Always There For You
by PopstarJ01
Summary: Fred and George Weasley were always thought of as 'The Troublesome Two.' What if there was a third mischief maker in their group? This is the story of Evelyn Collins; best mate of the infamous Weasley twins.
1. Evelyn Collins

Hello everyone! Thank you for taking the time to read my story, Always There For You. I've been writing it for AGES and thanks to a little encouragement from my friend Julie (aka remuslives23) I finally plucked up the courage to put this up. Its a bit of a slow start, but I promise it will pick up. The rating is currently T but may change later, depending on how I decide to go at a certain point. Reviews are highly appreciated, as I am in desperate need for feedback. Anyway, enjoy!

A/N: All the things you recognize belong to the wonderful JK Rowling...everything else came out of my screwed up mind...:-)

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'Evelyn? EVELYN! Wake up this instant young lady or you'll be late!'

A young girl, not even in her teens yet, sighed and rolled over in her plush queen sized bed. She didn't want to wake up--she could just tell by the lack of light filtering through her curtains that it was some ungodly early hour.

'EVELYN!'

'Alright, Mum, I'm up,' she grumbled as she untwisted her body from her comforter.

'EVELYN!'

'I'M UP!' she shouted back.

Evelyn Collins slid off her bed and the moment her feet hit the floor she remembered what day it was--the first day of September, 1989; her first day as a pupil of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! She had been looking forward to this day ever since she received her acceptance letter back in March and, although she was proud that she was the first witch in her family, she suspected that her parents weren't quite as enthused as she was.

Her father, Edward George Collins, was a highly esteemed Barrister working in the British court system, and came from a very respectable, upper-class family. From the age of five until he completed his BVC and pupillage, he had attended the best schools that money could buy. Money had bought him discipline and he learnt the value of hard work, applying those lessons to his career as he became a strong advocate for his clients, always going the extra mile. Evelyn always admired how hard of a worker her father was. He was a very tall, exceedingly handsome man with chocolate brown hair and startling green eyes, aristocratic features, and a smile that could make anyone's heart melt.

Her mother, Victoria Elizabeth Phillips-Collins, was a senior professor of Microbiology at The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the Queen Mary University of London Science and Engineering Graduate School (try explaining that to your mates when you're seven!). She was a svelte, beautiful woman with dark wine red hair, sapphire blue eyes, a dazzling smile, and soft delicate features. She too came from a well-known, wealthy family who valued public appearance above all else.

Victoria and Edward had met when they were eighteen at a social gathering that both their families were attending. After they had both finished their studies, they married--much to the delight of their families. They weren't in love, their marriage born from the pressure of social responsibility more than powerful emotion, but there was an affection there.

Both were very much like their parents--they placed the highest value on social standing, so when Evelyn presented them with her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, needless to say they were less than pleased.

How would they explain this to the family, their friends? However, when another letter arrived from the Headmaster addressed to Evelyn's parents, they agreed, albeit somewhat reluctantly, to let her go on the condition that she must never speak of the true nature of the school in front of anyone other than the two of them. Evelyn readily agreed, pleased beyond words that her conservative parents were allowing her to attend such an unconventional school.

Two weeks before the start of term, a stern looking woman calling herself Minerva McGonagall knocked at the door, explaining that she was there to accompany Evelyn to get her school supplies. Evelyn was nervous about leaving with the seemingly harsh woman, but after only a few minutes, she felt completely comfortable. McGonagall, or 'Minnie' as Evelyn insisted on calling her, spent the day helping Evelyn purchase everything she'd need for her first year at Hogwarts, and telling her all about the magical world she was entering. By the end of the day, Evelyn was even more excited about her first day at Hogwarts.

Evelyn double and triple checked her trunk before dashing into the shower to ready herself for the day and the interesting people she was sure to meet. She was ready in record time, her deep red locks twisted neatly in two plaits that hung down the back of her blue polo shirt. Her gray pleated skirt stopped at her knees, and the white socks that came out of her Mary Jane's left her skinned knees exposed (a deportment no no for which her mother would surely admonish her...again). She pushed the fringe out of her bright green eyes as she started searching for her new kitten, a gray tabby with light green eyes called Dorothy (named after the lead character from 'The Wizard of Oz', Evelyn's favourite movie and book). After finding her in the back of the closet, Evelyn carefully placed the skittish kitten in her carrier and started down the staircase, knowing one of the butlers would be bringing her trunk down shortly. She hated getting being waited on, but for now it was her life and she'd have to deal with it until she could move out. When she arrived in the large foyer at the bottom of the ridiculously ornate main staircase, she was appalled to see the time on the grandfather clock read 7:27 AM.

'Its about time, Charl--'

'DAD! I thought I asked you not to call me that!'

'Well, I'm sorry Charlene, but unlike your mother I refuse to call you by your middle name. We named you Charlene because it is a name of royalty--just like mine and just like your mother's.'

'Well, alright Dad, but please don't call me that in public, ok?'

As her father was about to retort, her mother walked down the staircase followed by two of the butlers who had Evelyn's trunk between them.

'All ready? Excellent, let's go.'

She breezed right past her husband and only child and out the front door. Evelyn sighed and followed her, her father on her tail and the two butlers bringing up the rear. They lived in the Kensington Gardens section of London, one of the ritzier neighbourhoods, and their house reflected the required status. It was large, according to British standards, a true des res. It had a small but well manicured front lawn surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The front walk led to the covered front steps of their beautiful white three story home with black shutters. The window boxes overflowed with flowers, and trees were planted along the boundaries of the house for privacy, separating them from the neighbours.

It was a truly beautiful house and Evelyn loved it.

Their car, another rarity in London due to the congestion tax, was already running as it sat in park in the driveway; their driver, Lester, waiting patiently to open the door for them. Her mother and father climbed into the car without so much as a 'thank you,' which they were brought up to do. Evelyn, however, liked Lester enormously and would miss him. He smiled as she approached.

'So, Miss Evelyn, all ready for boarding school?'

The staff were in the dark regarding Evelyn's magical abilities and had been told she'd be attending a prestigious boarding school up North.

'I suppose, Lester,' she said a bit nervously as the two butlers loaded her trunk into the boot. 'I'm looking forward to learning...everything...but I'm just worried about making friends.'

'Oh come now, Miss Evelyn, you'll make plenty of friends! You are by far the sweetest little girl I've ever had the pleasure of working for.'

Evelyn smiled as she hugged Lester tightly around the middle, something she knew she wouldn't be able to do at the train station because her parents would disapprove. He gladly hugged her back.

'Until Christmas, then?'

'I suppose so, Lester,' she said releasing him and climbing into the back of the car with her parents.

The door closed and a few moments later she was driving through the busy streets of London towards Kings Cross Station. The ride was spent in silence, which wasn't unusual for her family, but Evelyn was sort of hoping that her parents would use this time to say good bye or wish her luck or something...not just look over their respective paper work the entire time. When they finally pulled up to the main entrance of Kings Cross, it was near eight o'clock. Silently, she slid out of the car after her parents and waited while Lester loaded her trunk onto a trolley. She gave him a heartfelt smile before she followed her parents into the station. As she walked, her mother took her cat carrier out from her hand.

'Get that letter out of your knapsack with your train ticket,' she said briskly.

Evelyn nodded and, as always, did as she was told. Ticket and cat carrier once more in hand, she trailed behind her parents as they walked past platforms one through eight, heading for the second section of the train station that housed platforms nine and above.

'I know it's too early to get catch your train, it probably hasn't even arrived yet, so just stay here until it's nearly time to go, alright?,' her father said as he dragged her trunk off the trolley and to an inconspicuous spot.

'Yes, Father.'

'Good. Now, behave, don't fall behind in your studies, and we'll see you for Christmas,' her father said as he gave Evelyn what felt like a forced embrace.

'Alright, Father.'

Her mother looked at her watch then warned her daughter, 'Stay here and talk to no one until you are on the train, understood?'

'Yes, Mother,' Evelyn responded automatically as she reciprocated her mother's cold hug.

'Good. Now come, Edward, the car is waiting.'

And with that Evelyn watched with tear filled eyes as her parents turned their backs on her and quickly walked out of sight, leaving an empty trolley and their only child behind. No 'good bye', no 'we'll miss you', no 'remember to write', no 'we love you'. She knew her parents weren't the warmest people on the planet, but this was the coldest they had acted towards her and she knew exactly why. Ever since she'd received her acceptance letter, Evelyn's parents had treated her differently, looked at her differently, even spoke to her differently. At first she thought she was imagining things, but after their icy farewell she was certain--her own parents were ashamed of her; ashamed that she was a witch; ashamed that she wasn't "normal". She sat down on her trunk, her back against the wall as she watched businessmen and women bustle across the platforms. She wondered sadly if any of them would treat their children the way her parents had just treated her, or if maybe they'd been the ones to suffer the chill of an unfeeling family. Or maybe they had families that would never judge them--that would love them unconditionally. As a few tears leaked from her beautiful green eyes, she stifled a sob and wiped the drops off her rosy cheeks. Dorothy mewed in her case near Evelyn's feet, and she busied herself with getting the kitten a treat to quiet her down. Once Dorothy was settled, she looked at her watch, a gift from her parents for her tenth birthday. 8:07 AM. She had quite a wait ahead of her, so she decided to try and get some more sleep. She lay across her trunk, using her knapsack as a very uncomfortable pillow, and was quickly lulled to sleep by the constant stampede of footsteps.

And that's it for chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it! I'll post again tomorrow probably as school is O-U-T for the summer :-) Ta ta my loves :-)


	2. Onto The Platform

Hello again everyone! Thank you all so much for reading chapter one and liking it enough to stick around for chapter two. Evelyn meets our favorite twins in this chapter--what will she think of them? Remember--reviews are much appreciated :-)

Huge thanks to remuslives23 for being all around awesome, leaving me my first (and thus far only) review (hint hint) and helping me edit; and Beast's Harlot for adding my little story to her favorite's list--hope you enjoy chapter two.

Just a reminder: if you recognize it, it ain't mine--it's JK's :-)

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'Ginny, dear, please don't let go of Mummy's hand, its too crowded in--FRED! GEORGE! Leave Ron alone! Oh and Percy, dear, please stop fiddling with your glasses; I promise you'll get used to them. Charlie, watch where you're walking; you almost knocked over your father again! Arthur, could you please try to contain these boys.'

'Molly, dear, if they won't listen to you they definitely won't listen to me.'

Molly Weasley, mother of seven and unofficial saint, rolled her eyes as two of her children laughed at their father's words.

The trip to King's Cross from Devon was never an easy one, what with so many children people to keep track of, but for the first time in quite a while she was making the trip without all of her children --her oldest son, Bill having graduated from Hogwarts last year. He was now living in Egypt, studying to be a curse breaker for Gringott's bank. She was insanely proud of his achievements, but she missed him desperately--he was, after all, her first born, However, with her twin boys being so excited about their first year at Hogwarts, she was grateful for one less body to look after.

Meanwhile, while Molly was trying to organize six children, a husband, four trunks, an owl and a rat, the two newest Weasleys to go to Hogwarts were scheming amongst themselves. Fred and George Weasley had been pranksters from the very day they were born, only a few minutes old when they executed their first act of mischief -- urinating all over their Healer. Since then, they'd found a way to create havoc in almost any situation, and were looking forward to kicking off their Hogwarts career with a prank they'd be remembered for.

Finally, the ginger-headed clan turned the corner that lead them to platforms nine and above and were faced with the brick barrier to platform 9 3/4. The clock on the corner of the platform read 10:45 AM, giving them fifteen minutes to get everyone through the barrier and settled on the train. Molly and Arthur Weasley stood before their four school-aged children and began what all Weasley offspring knew as "The Speech", which simply contained instructions for them to behave, not to neglect their studies, to write at least once a week, and again a reminder for them to BEHAVE. During the speech, the quieter twin, George, allowed his eyes to wander around the platform. During his mother's third or fourth reminder to "please behave" (he wasn't sure which, he'd lost track) he spotted something quite odd against the wall; a lump of blue, red and gray curled up on a trunk.

'Uh, Mum?'

'Oh, for heaven's sake, George, what is it?'

George pointed to what he had seen and his mother gasped as she realised what the lump was.

'Now what parent in their right mind would allow their child to sleep here alone? Oh, this just will not do!'

'Now, Molly, do you really think its our business to--'

'Arthur, that girl is sleeping on a trunk in the middle of a crowded and dangerous train station all alone--this is definitely my business.'

And with that, Molly Weasley carefully approached the girl, her four youngest children just inches behind her.

Evelyn was dreaming quite a lovely dream; she was playing football in the park with her father as her mother sat nearby under a tree reading a book. She and her father took a break and sat under the tree with her mother to enjoy a picnic lunch. It was simply wonderful--neither of her parents had their usual mound of paperwork with them, and they were smiling and laughing with her, something they rarely, if ever, did. It was the kind of day she had always longed to share with her parents. As she became aware of a hand, gently shaking her awake, the scene before her began to fade--the last thing she saw was her parents smiling at her.

'Dear? You might want to wake up.'

Evelyn's eyes blinked open to see a woman with wild orange-red hair kneeling before her. Evelyn gasped and sat straight up in alarm.

The woman smiled gently, 'I didn't mean to frighten you, dear--I just thought you wouldn't want to be asleep here for too long.'

Evelyn nodded quickly before glancing down at her watch. Her emerald eyes widened in shock.

'Oh no! Its so late!' she exclaimed as she leapt to her feet and reached for her knapsack and cat carrier. 'Oh I'm sure to miss the train now! I don't even know where the thing is! My parents were right--this was a mistake.'

Molly gently grabbed the girls shoulders to keep her still, 'Easy there, dear, you're getting yourself all wound up. Now, my name is Molly Weasley...what's yours?'

'Evelyn Collins, ma'am.'

'Well, Evelyn, its a pleasure to meet you. Would you like me to help you find your train?'

Evelyn nodded gratefully.

'Ok, let's start with what you know, shall we? Do you have any clue where your platform is?'

'No, ma'am.'

'Do you know what platform number it is?'

'Er, no, ma'am,' Evelyn stuttered, not daring to tell the woman she was looking platform 9 3/4, quite an absurd number.

'Alright...well, where is it you're going, dear? We can always ask one of the security guards.'

'I'm going to a...prestigious boarding school up North...it's called Hogwarts,' Evelyn responded, using the line her mother had practically drilled in her head in case any of their family or friends bothered to ask which school she attended.

Molly smiled sweetly, 'Well, dear, you're in luck; that is exactly where my family and I are headed.'

Evelyn's greed eyes widened as she whispered, 'You're a witch?'

Molly nodded, 'That I am, dear. I'm guessing you're a first year?'

'Yes, ma'am, and the first witch in my family.'

'Well, congratulations! Your parents must be very proud.'

Evelyn's eyes lowered to her shoes, 'Actually, they don't want me to go--I don't think they quite fancy the idea of me being magical. They dropped me off at eight o'clock, before they went to work.'

Molly was furious--how could this sweet girl's parents abandon her at a train station by herself? And they didn't like her being magical? It was as bad as a pureblood family disowning a squib in her opinion--despicable. She tried not to let her disgust show--she didn't want to upset the girl anymore than she seemed to be. She took a deep, calming breath and smiled at the girl.

'Well then, it's lucky my George saw you when he did. Come along, dear--we'll help you with your things and get you through the platforms. Oh!'

She had just turned to call over one of her boys when she noticed her four youngest right behind her, looking past her to the mysterious girl with great interest.

Molly sighed forcefully, 'Will you four stop standing there and gawking at Evelyn like she's a monkey in the zoo? Ronald, Ginevra, go back to your father! Frederick, George, help Evelyn with her bags and for goodness sakes, behave yourselves!'

Little Ron and Ginny quickly scurried to their father's side, and Molly turned back to Evelyn as the twins grabbed the young girl's luggage.

'I apologize for them dear...they get their curiosity from their father.'

Evelyn shook her hand, 'N-No, its fine, really. I don't mind it.'

'See, Mum, she doesn't mind us!'

'And who would? We are rather charming, aren't we, George?'

'That we are, Fred, that we are.'

'Oh, George, we've forgotten our manners!'

'Oh, silly us! Allow me to introduce myself, my dear. My name is George,' the first ginger haired twin said, bowing ridiculously low.

'And my name is Fred,' the second twin said as he mimicked his brother's actions.

'And we are the Weasley Twins!' the boys finished in unison as they stood to full height once more.

Evelyn smiled and giggled, clapping at the twins antics as they repeated their bows and their mother rolled her eyes.

'That was brilliant! How did you do that?' Evelyn asked as she slung her knapsack onto her shoulder.

'Do what?' the twins asked as they heaved Evelyn's heavy trunk onto a trolley.

'That! Speak in unison! It's wicked!' Evelyn said, picking up Dorothy's carrier.

The twin's looked at each other for a few moments before Fred spoke, 'Dunno, really--we just always have.'

'Maybe you're telepathic!'

'Tele-what?' George asked.

'Telepathic--you're able to communicate using only your minds.'

'Sounds bloody cool!' the twins spoke in unison again, making Evelyn laugh once more.

'Ok, come on you three, time to get to the platform,' Molly said with a soft smile, ushering the children forward.

Evey knew she should've been paying attention to how the others were getting onto the platform, but the twins were so incredibly fascinating! They were entertaining her with ideas for pranks they could pull on their enemies when she heard her name being called.

'Alright, Evelyn, it's your turn, dear,' she heard Mrs. Weasley say sweetly.

She whipped her head around so fast her plaits hit the twins right in their faces.

'Pardon me?' she said politely as the twins mimed serious injury behind her to the amusement of their younger siblings.

'The Platform, dear. Its your turn to go through the wall.'

'Th-through the wall?'

'Why of course dear--weren't you paying attention?'

Evelyn looking guiltily back at the twins who were both suddenly whistling different tunes and looking around the platform with an air of innocence. Molly didn't have to hear another word--she knew what had distracted little Evelyn.

She glared at her sons then smiled at the young girl. 'Its alright, dear. Come, stand in front of me. Yes, bring your trolley. Now, you see that wall right there? Between platforms nine and ten? Now what you have to do is walk right through it. Don't worry, you won't crash--best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous.'

Evelyn nodded and gripped the handle of her trolley as she stared at the brick wall ahead of her. She took several deep breaths, mentally counted to three, and took off at a run, making Dorothy meow loudly in protest in her carrying case. Evelyn closed her eyes tightly as she drew nearer to the wall, bracing herself for the impending crash; but when it never came, she slowed and opened her eyes. In front of her was not the brick wall she'd been expecting to see but a platform filled with bustling people pushing trolleys and a large scarlet steam engine with the words _Hogwart's Express_ emblazoned across the front.

Her jaw dropped in shock--Minnie had failed to mention this to her on their trip to Diagon Alley.

'Quite a sight, isn't it?'

'We were the same way when we first saw it...'

'Of course we were four at the time.'

Evelyn looked back and forth to see a twin on either side of her. Even though they weren't particularly tall, she was short for her age and they towered over her.

'Boys, you know better than to stand in front of the barrier unless you want to be run over,' Molly said as she appeared behind them, young Ginny's hand in hers, Arthur following soon after with Ron.

'Well I'm sorry, Mum, but we had to explain to Evey here--'

'Um, its "Evelyn" actually.'

'--that her apparent awe and fascination with the Hogwarts Express is completely normal,' George said, ignoring Evelyn's interruption as he and his twin slung their arms around her small shoulders.

Molly's irritated expression softened as she looked at the small girl between her twin sons. She had forgotten that this was the first time the girl was seeing the train and she had to admit that she had also been awed the first time she had laid eyes on the scarlet train all those years ago.

She smiled. 'Well, alright then--but let's move aside now, shall we? We have less than ten minutes to get all you children settled on the train--no, Ron, no Ginny, I didn't mean you, my darlings.'

Ron and Ginny continued to pout as the group of nine moved down the platform looking for an empty compartment. Charlie and Percy waved goodbye as they broke off from the group to join their friends--Charlie grinning as he greeted a rather rambunctious witch with bubble gum pink hair, and Percy saying hello to a witch with long, curly, blonde hair.

Finally, they found a mostly empty compartment towards the back of the train and, after a handful of hugs and goodbyes, the three first years joined the others in the compartment, waving out the window until they lost sight of the platform. The twins settled on either side of Evelyn -- George to her left, Fred to her right -- as they set off on what promised to be an interesting first year.

'Hi,' said a boy sitting across from Evelyn.

He had chocolate colored skin, dark glittering eyes and a head full of dreadlocks. There was a girl to either side of him: One, a girl with caramel colored skin, shiny black hair pulled back into a single plait and dark brown eyes; the other a fair skinned girl with light brown wavy hair and hazel eyes.

'Hey there, mate! The name's George Weasley--'

'--and I'm his much more interesting, much cuter twin Fred Weasley!'

Evelyn smiled and rolled her eyes as she shook her head at the oh-so-modest twins.

'I'm Lee, Lee Jordan,' the boy with the dreadlocks said with a smile, which quickly turned to a grimace when the girl with caramel skin elbowed him. 'Ow! Angie!'

'DON'T CALL ME THAT LEE!'

'Sorry. Blokes, this is the very beautiful Angelina Johnson,' the caramel skinned girl promptly rolled her eyes, 'and this is her very good friend--'

'BEST friend, Jordan!'

'Sorry, BEST friend Alicia Spinnet.'

'Hello,' Alicia said politely, then looked at Evelyn. 'And what's your name?'

Evelyn jumped a bit in her seat, not expecting to be addressed.

'Oh how silly of us!' Fred said dramatically.

'This is our new friend, Evelyn Collins,' George finished with a smile.

'Pleasure to make your acquaintances,' she greeted them formally.

The others in the compartments greeted her warmly, and she was immediately at ease. Maybe making friends wouldn't be that hard after all.

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And that's chapter two! What did ya'll think? Like it? Hate it? Just hit that little gray button and let me know :-)


	3. Welcome to Hogwarts!

Hello all! Here's chapter three for all the good little readers who came back for chapter two, and now this one; much thanks! I promise, this is the last slow chapter--it will all pick up in chapter four. In fact, I solemnly swear that it will ;-)

Special thanks again to Julie (remus23)!

Enjoy :-)

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After an hour of laughing and joking with the other first years, Evelyn loosened up and dropped the formal tone she was so accustomed to using. She knew the trip took many hours, having to eat and use the loo a couple of times, but the time simply flew by as she talked with her new friends. By far, the funniest were the twins--they had her practically rolling the floor several times, and Lee was also very clever and witty. Angelina had a certain dry sense of humour that sometimes went over the boys' heads but Evelyn snickered at her antics. She and Alicia were very sweet, and Evelyn hoped they wound up roommates.

Finally, the train slowed to a stop and, stretching their cramped bodies, the six first years climbed out of their compartment to the platform below. Evelyn couldn't believe her eyes-- there were nowhere near this many people at her last school! The almost impenetrable wave of black robed students pushed and bumped into each other as they made their way off the platform.

Over the din, she heard a loud booming voice cry 'Firs' years, this way! Firs' years, all firs' years, this way please!'

'Come on, Evey, this way!' one of the twins (George maybe?) said as he took her hand and pulled her in the direction of the voice.

'Its "Evelyn" actually,' she corrected, but he couldn't hear her over all the voices of excited students.

He guided her through the crowd and over to a large tree where other first years seemed to be gathering. She thought it odd until she realized it wasn't a tree at all--it was a person! Fear ran through her and she tried to pull her hand free and run the other way.

'Evey? What are you doing?'

'You're dragging me toward a-a MONSTER!' she said in a harsh whisper, not even bothering to correct him on her name.

George chuckled and shook his head, 'That's not a monster, that's just Hagrid. He's as harmless as a kitten, Charlie and Bill told me so.'

Evelyn stopped trying to free herself from George's grip and turned to where this Hagrid fellow stood. He was absolutely massive--easily taller than the tree in her front yard at home. His hands were so huge they looked as if they could cover an entire Volkswagen Beetle easily, and his feet were even bigger. From where she stood, some three or four yards away, she could feel the vibrations caused from his loud, deep voice reverberating through the ground.

'He's enormous,' she breathed in awe, eyes wide as she stared.

'It's rumoured that he's half giant, dunno if its true, though,' George explained, tugging on her hand.

Evelyn nodded and allowed George to drag her to where the rest of the first years were gathered, none of whom reached past Hagrid's waist. Evelyn found herself standing between Fred and George and behind Lee, Angelina and Alicia. Once Hagrid was satisfied that he had gathered all the first years, he instructed them to follow him down a nearby path in the woods. It was a very slippery slope, and many of the children lost their footing on the unstable ground, Evelyn included. They emerged from the treed area, covered in mud and scrapes, onto the shore of a huge, black lake.

'An' there she is, you lot,' Hagrid boomed. 'Hogwarts.'

The whole group looked up as one and gasped; the castle was huge and majestic, perched on a cliff over the massive lake. The lights glittering in the windows blended so well with the stars in the inky sky that it was if the castle wasn't there at all, but just part of the backdrop.

'Alrigh', you lot, no more than four to a boat!'

The students looked back to the shoreline and saw a row of small dinghies rocking on the choppy waters. Evelyn's stomach flipped--she hated the water, always had, and the one time her mother convinced her to get on a boat she had become violently ill. In a daze, she followed Fred and George to the boats, finally snapping back to normal when she saw them climbing into the rickety looking boat.

'There is no bloody way am I getting in that thing!' she said, pointing at the boat.

The twins looked up at her. 'Why not?' they asked as one.

'Well, er, boats and I don't exactly get along,' she explained.

The twins rolled their eyes and one of them (Fred, she guessed) spoke, 'No worries, Evey--these are magic boats. The moment they take off, they stop rocking, so it's like they're floating.'

'First of all, it's Evelyn,' she corrected again. 'Secondly, how do you know?'

The twins glanced at each other quickly, a movement that didn't go unnoticed by Evelyn, before George spoke, 'Our brothers told us.'

Evelyn wasn't sure she believed them, but when she saw that she was the only one left standing on the shoreline, and that the other students were looking curiously at her as they waited, she quickly clamoured into the boat. The boat took off before she was properly settled, making her yelp and grab George for balance.

Ten awful minutes later, Fred and George had to lift a green-faced Evelyn out of the boat and onto the underground dock. Just as she suspected, the twins' story about "magical boats" had been nothing more than a ploy to get her into the dinghy--a fact she realized about ten seconds after the boats started moving. It had taken all her will power not to become physically ill, though she couldn't help thinking it would have served the twins right if she'd vomited on them.

'Well, think about it this way,' Fred said as he and George practically carried Evelyn between them, 'at least you never have to go on the boats again!'

Worried that if she tried to speak she'd lose her battle not to be ill, she merely glared at the twin on her right. His smile quickly disappeared and he looked towards the stairs they now had to climb to reach the castle. Five minutes of heavy breathing and stomach cramps later, they made it to the top of the stairs and were met by a stern looking witch with black hair pulled into a tight bun and square glasses. Evelyn smiled; it was Minnie! She quickly led the group to a small side room, then waited until all was quiet before speaking. Evelyn was so excited--Minnie was so interesting! But Evelyn quickly realized that the woman standing before her was not the kind witch she had spent her first day in the wizarding world with. This woman was stern and sharp and Evelyn found herself a little afraid of her.

But a more worrying issue arose as Minnie--or rather, Professor McGonagall --spoke. One of the first things she mentioned in her somewhat long winded speech, was that they were to be 'sorted' into separate houses. Evelyn felt a thrill of fear. The woman didn't tell them exactly how they would be sorted -- what if they asked her to perform magic in front of everyone? Sure, she had read all her school books and had the spells practically memorized but she never actually practiced any of it! What if she couldn't do it? What if they send her home? What if this was all a mistake and she wasn't really a witch?

She didn't want to leave the magical world but wouldn't her parents be pleased--they could send her to St. George's, an independent all girl school in Ascot that turned girls into perfectly finished zombies. Lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize the others were moving until George shook her shoulder.

'Evey, come on--let's go,' he said, pulling her around to stand in front of him.

He pushed her forward, almost shoving her into Fred's back. Evelyn fully snapped out of her daze and continued to walk. They entered the huge Dining Hall and Evelyn looked around, seeing every eye on the line of first years. She recalled something she'd read in _Hogwarts, A History_, and looked up, awestruck by the charmed ceiling which was the image of the night sky outside--mostly clear, the stars twinkling and moon shining.

Why was it that the book took the time to mention the ceiling but not the way students were sorted?

They finally reached the front of the room and lined up side by side in front of a stool on which sat an old ratty hat. When they were all stationary, the hat started to wiggle before the brim opened and the hat began to sing:

_'Here we are; another year  
Inside this noble school  
And I know where to put you all  
For I am not a fool.  
The sorting hat, is what I'm called  
And I know where you belong  
That's why I come alive each year  
And why I sing this song  
If brave and loyal is what you are  
A Gryffindor you shall be  
Or perhaps you are cunning and sly  
Then to Slytherin with thee  
If you are smart and always wise  
A Ravenclaw you are  
If you are hardworking and true  
Hufflepuff shall take you far  
So sit down and put me on  
There's no way you can't win  
Just relax, open your mind to me,  
And let the sorting begin!'_

The entire Great Hall burst into applause, and Evelyn didn't hesitate to join them. A sorting hat! How very clever indeed! Now that didn't seem so bad at all. When the applause died down, Professor McGonagall unrolled a scroll and began calling names. Evelyn suddenly hated the fact that her last name began with the letter "C" because she'd be one of the first to be sorted! Only three students were called (one going to Hufflepuff, two to Ravenclaw) before Evelyn's name was called and she sat on the stool and the hat sat upon her head. After a moment, she heard a voice in her ear.

_Ah, another Collins! Its been over a century since I've seen one of your clan--about 120 years, I believe. _

_'Huh, what?'_ Evelyn thought in surprise.

_Its true, young Collins--you have magic in your blood, lying dormant all these years. And not only on your father's side, but your mothers as well. Do you know who your maternal great-great-great grandmother was?_

_'Not that I can recall, no.' she answered warily._

_Her name was Isla Black--she was a member of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. She was disowned by her family for marrying a muggle, your great-great-great grandfather Robert Hitchens. She and Robert produced no magical heirs, and the magical gene stayed dormant until your mother married your father, who also has a dormant magical gene. His has been dormant for just over 100 years._

_'Wow, I never knew that,' she said in amazement. 'All I've ever known about my family is that we've been part of high society for generations.'_

_Oh yes, quite--even your magical family members on your father's side were part of muggle high society; their magical life was secret from their muggle friends, however. On your mother's side it started with Robert Hitchens who was a professor of literature at Oxford. But I've gone off on a tangent haven't I? Back to the matter at hand--your sorting. Now on your mother's side, everyone always was and always has been in Slytherin--well, except for your fourth cousin once removed, he was a Gryffindor. And on your father's side they were all Gryffindors. Well, I suppose majority rules then. Let it be..._

'GRYFFINDOR!'

Evelyn rose with a smile, rushing to the loudly applauding and cheering table under red and gold banners after placing the hat back on the stool. She couldn't believe she was under the hat for so long--it must've been two solid minutes -- but she had learned quite a bit about her family and been sorted into the house she wanted. The rest of the sorting went by quite quickly. Angelina, Lee, and Alicia all were put in Gryffindor after spending no more than about ten seconds under the hat.

The hat had barely touched Fred's head when it screamed 'GRYFFINDOR!'

But by far the funniest moment of the sorting was when the hat touched George's head and yelled out 'Merlin's Beard, there's two of them!' before putting him in Gryffindor as well.

After an amazing meal and a strange speech from the Headmaster--who seemed to be a very eccentric man--the students were dismissed to their dorms for the night. As Evelyn lay in her new bed--her room mates Alicia, Angelina and a girl named Patricia all soundly asleep--she smiled to herself. She had never been so happy in her entire life.

Yay! She made it to Hogwarts! And what an intesting history lesson regarding her family, huh? Who do you think that fourth cousin once removed is? You could leave me a review with a guess if ya want :-) Until next time, loves!


	4. Flattering Parchment

Good evening all! Thank you for returning for chapter four. As promised, the story starts to pick up now. I was gonna post this HOURS ago but I had work so sadly work has to come first (boo). I'll try to post one chapter a day, but if it gets to be every two to three days, please be patient; I promise good things come to those who wait :-)

Again, much thanks to Julie (remuslives23) for editing, awesome suggestions, and being super cool :-)

A/N: This goes for all chapter past, present, and future--everything you recognize comes from the wonderful JK Rowling; I'm just borrowing :-)

'Now get in there you no good ruddy kids and I'll be back to give you your punishment,' Argus Filch said before gimping off after Peeves, Mrs. Norris hot on his heels.

Fred, George, and Evelyn were locked in the caretaker's messy and smelly office after being caught out of bed after curfew and "caught in the process of causing mischief" as Filch had put it. The three of them had been prepping for their latest prank, to be executed the next morning. Their victims -- the Slytherins, the Gryffindor students' natural enemies.

But Evelyn, or Evey as everyone now called her, couldn't help but smile; she loved causing trouble with the twins. In the month since they arrived at school, they had detention a total of nineteen times--their mischievous antics earning them the name "The Troublesome Trio" amongst the staff and prefects.

* * *

_It all started on the third day of classes. Evelyn was sitting at one of the tables in the common room, trying to finish the unreasonably long Charms essay that was due at the end of the week. The twins--who had the same assignment but were putting it off until the last minute--were sitting on the couch, elbows on their knees and heads together, talking in low tones about something that Evelyn couldn't quite make out. After about half an hour, one of the twins (George, Evelyn knew by now), fell back against the backrest, throwing his arms into the air dramatically._

_'Well then I don't know what the bloody hell to do!' he exclaimed._

_'I'm telling you mate--dungbombs! It will be hilarious and the smell will stay with them all day,' Fred argued._

_Evelyn, who had her back to the twins, gently set her quill on the table and listened intently. _

_'No, you have to be nearby to set them off--we'll get caught for sure!'_

_'But isn't that the point? Don't we want everyone to know it's us performing these incredibly ingenuous practical jokes?'_

_'No! The point is to prank everyone in a way so that everyone knows it was us, but the teacher's can't prove it.'_

_'Oh...Well, what about nose-biting tea-cups?'_

_'No...they'd take a bite out of us too. Besides, where would we set them up? Only the teachers use teacups… .'_

_'Very true, very true.' _

_There was silence for a minute and in the quiet, the strangest thing was happening in Evelyn's mind. It was working fast, trying to think of a solution to the twins' problem. She was surprised - practical jokes had never been her 'thing' but when things started falling into place--bits and pieces from other conversations she heard between them in the past few days, she turned to the boys with a plan._

_'Soap.'_

_'What?' the twins asked as one, watching as Evelyn rose from her seat and approached them._

_'Soap. You said two days ago that you bought a whole crate of frog-spawn soap at Diagon Alley before you left for Hogwarts. Remember I asked you what it was and you told me that when the bars get wet, soap frogs come out of them and start hopping around everywhere and don't disappear until they dry out?'_

_'Ok,' George said slowly, recalling the conversation but still not catching on. 'So, what about it?'_

_'Don't you see? Replace all the soap in all the loos with the frog-spawn soap! It would be brilliant! Frogs would be hopping all over the place. And the best part is, since it only activates when it hits water, you can just leave them and stay clear of the loos and you won't be caught!'_

_The twins looked at each other, having a silent conversation between themselves. A full minute later, they looked back at Evelyn._

_'We like your idea, Evey,' Fred proclaimed in a very business-like voice. 'However, there is one snag.'_

_'Which is?' Evelyn questioned, not bothering to challenge them on the incorrect the use of her name anymore._

_'How would we get the soap into the girls' loos?' George asked._

_Evelyn smiled, a strange anticipation filling her as she said, 'Leave it to me.'_

_The plan worked perfectly. The next morning, while everyone was at breakfast, the twins and Evelyn scurried around the castle replacing as many bars of soap as they could. Throughout the day, intermittent screams could be heard coming from all the loos, and soap frogs were hopping down the halls. Everything was going to plan, until Peeves caught the twins sneaking out of one of the loos on the seventh floor during dinner (it took them all day to hit all the loos) and Filch came running at the poltergeist's screams. The twins were cornered in the common room by McGonagall and threatened with a weeks worth of detention each. Evelyn couldn't let them take the fall all alone and bravely confessed that it had been her plan, and she just asked Fred and George to help her with the execution. It cost their house ten points and all three of them got a weeks detention, but as Evelyn, Fred, and George polished trophies without magic the next night, they were quietly planning their next prank._

* * *

As Fred and George tried to figure out how to escape the office before Filch came back, Evey took the opportunity to look around. The room was quite small and could barely qualify as an "office"; it was more like a large storage closet with a desk, a lantern hanging over their heads, a huge cupboard, and dozens filing cabinets stacked to the ceiling. Needless to say, it was quite cramped in there. It smelled something awful and Evey was gagging, only choking it back when she thought of how the twins would tease her if she was sick. The odour seemed to be emanating mainly from the stone walls, which were damp and covered in some kind of slimy substance that she honestly didn't want to think about. Behind the desk on the wall hung various types of chains and manacles that Evey fervently hoped hadn't been used recently nor would be getting used any time soon. The small desk was covered in parchment, and Evey saw Filch's barely legible handwriting on most of it.

As she scanned the filing cabinets, she was quite pleased to see that she, Fred, and George already had their own drawer marked "Troublesome Trio" and was a bit jealous that the twins also had a separate drawer all of their own. The other drawers had various labels on them, none of which caught her eye until she saw one marked "**_CONFISCATED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS_**." That label certainly peaked her interest, so as the twins continued to try and knock down the door, she went over to the very intriguing drawer to take a look; only to find, to her disappointment, that it was locked. She instantly regretted leaving her wand in her dorm.

'Bugger!'

'What is it, Evey?'

Evey whipped her head around, her long ponytail nearly hitting her in the face, to see that she had caught the twins' attention with her outcry. 'Oh, its just this drawer--its locked.'

'What's so interesting about a drawer?' Fred asked as he and George kneeled down next to Evey.

She smiled, 'Oh, nothing...just the fact that it's labelled "_**CONFISCATED AND HIGHLY DANGEROUS**_!"'

The twins' chocolate eyes lit up, and they smiled like kids on Christmas morning. 'Oh really?'

Evey simply pointed to the label on the drawer, and that was all it took for the twins to start trying to open the drawer instead of the door. After nearly tugging the cabinet down, though, they sat back on their heels with frowns on their faces.

'Well, isn't this just unfair?' George said with a pout.

'Right you are, twin,' Fred agreed.

Evey sighed and sat down, cross-legged, and put her head in her hands. Something so tempting was right in front of them, and yet it was just out of reach. A stray strand of hair tickled the back of her neck and she reached her arms up to fix it.

George saw her and said, 'What are you doing?

She looked up at him, 'Fixing my hair.'

Fred suddenly looked up, eyes wide, 'How?'

'With bobby pins...OH!' she exclaimed, finally catching on.

She immediately pulled all the bobby pins out of her hair, loose hairs falling all around her face. She dumped them in a pile in front of the boys. The three of them stared at the pile before Evey spoke.

'Now what?'

The twins looked up at her, then at each other for a few moments. She still wasn't sure how they did it, but they were having another silent conversation**,** communicating with just a look. She had seen them do this many times since she met them, and it astounded her every time. After quite a long silence, Fred nodded and George grabbed one of the bobby pins and started to attack the small lock on the drawer. After wiggling it, jiggling it, and twisting it, an audible "click" was heard and George slid the drawer open with a smile.

'Voila!' he said.

The trio dove right in, seeing so many interesting things that their brains could not comprehend it all. Suddenly, they heard the lock on the door jiggle. The twins and Evey scrambled to close the drawer, but not before Evey grabbed the first thing she laid her hands on -- not wanting to leave empty handed. They stood shoulder to shoulder, Evey in the middle, the fantastic drawer once again closed, just as Filch opened the door.

It wasn't until an hour later that they arrived back to the Gryffindor common room. Filch had been brutal, bringing Snape and McGonagall with him to assist in assigning their punishment. In the end, it was decided they'd have to clean all the loos in the dungeon by hand, no magic, for two weeks. It was disgusting, and unfair, but it would be worth it due to the fact that the teachers and Filch hadn't discovered the pranks they had been setting up so they would still go off as planned over breakfast.

By now, everyone else in Gryffindor tower was asleep, which gave them time and privacy to investigate what it was they had nicked from Filch.

'That's it?' Fred said as they stared at the blank bit of parchment they had risked their necks for.

'Quite a let down,' George said sadly.

'Now look, you two, it must have been in that drawer for a reason,' Evey argued. 'I'm sure there is something interesting about this thing...BLOODY HELL! LOOK!'

The three stared at the parchment as words began to appear.

_Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Miss Collins for acknowledging the fact that this marvellous artefact was confiscated by the wretched Mr. Filch for a reason._

The three eleven year old stared at the parchment in shock; it just wrote them a message! Incredible!

'Evey, ask it a question,' George said.

'What? Why me?'

'Because it obviously likes you,' Fred said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Evey shrugged then her jaw dropped in total shock as the parchment was writing again.

_Mr. Prongs agrees with Messrs. Weasley._

_As does Mr. Padfoot._

_And Mr. Wormtail._

_And Mr. Moony._

'Go on then Evey,' George prompted.

Evey thought she had lost her mind--a piece of parchment that apparently had multiple personalities was talking to her. Then again, she hadn't believed there was a magical world at first either. She took a deep breath and spoke.

'Alright then, well, er, why exactly is it that Filch had this--or you--in that drawer?'

_Mr. Prongs believes it is because Mr. Filch is a no good bilge rat._

_Mr. Wormtail takes offence to Mr. Prongs' comment._

_Mr. Prongs sincerely apologizes to Mr. Wormtail._

_Mr. Wormtail accepts Mr. Prongs' sincere apology._

_Mr. Padfoot would greatly appreciate it if both Messrs. Prongs and Wormtail shut their traps._

_Mr. Moony sincerely apologizes to Miss Collins for his friends' behaviour._

'Its quite alright,' said Evey, still self conscious that she was talking to a piece of parchment. 'So what exactly is this… um, I mean, who exactly are you?'

_Ah, Mr. Prongs wishes is was just that simple._

_Sadly, Mr. Padfoot must inform young Miss. Collins that the nature of this magnificent item must be discovered without any help._

_However, Mr. Wormtail is pleased to inform you that guessing is allowed, and correct guesses will receive hints as rewards._

_Mr. Moony feels he must say that because he feels Messrs. Weasley and Miss Collins are very worthy of knowing the secrets the parchment contains, so hints may be better than if it were anyone else._

'Well, that is bloody stupid,' Fred said.

'Don't insult them! They're sweet,' Evey said.

'Of course you think so, they complimented you,' George said.

'Ok, come on, we can figure this out,' Evey said, ignoring the look George was giving her.

'Now, these guys obviously hate Filch, and so do we. And he confiscated this from them like he confiscated those wicked fireworks from us last week. Maybe...they were, what did Filch call us; "no good ruddy kids"... Hey look!'

The three of them saw the parchment, which had gone blank then drawn a hang man set-up. The mysterious Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had already filled in some of the blanks with the words "TO" "NO" and "GOOD".

'Hey, good going Evey!'

'I agree with George, brilliant job.'

'Look, another one!'

The word "I" appeared twice on the parchment.

'Ok, so we have to guess... seven more words in total**,'** Evelyn mused. 'Maybe it has to do with Filch?''No, no, no, that's just stupid.'

'Hey, don't call her stupid, you dumb git!'

'Don't call me a dumb git, you bloody wanker!'

'George, Fred, stop it! Let's just think about this, shall we? Now it appears that if we say one of the words in this phrase, it shows up. It must have something to do with whatever it is.'

'So it's "I blank blank blank I blank blank TO NO GOOD blank blank." What could it be?' Fred said thoughtfully.

'What if it's some kind of revenge from the Slytherins?'

'How could they possibly have gotten into Filch's office, George?'

'How am I supposed to know that, Fred? Oh, I said two more! See, the words "THAT and "AM" appeared!'

'Finally your ridiculous fighting pays off,' Evelyn jokes.

'Hey!' the twins said, and moments later they were chasing her around the room.

'Don't you dare! Don't you DARE tickle me!'

'Oh, you don't want us to tickle you?' the twins said evilly.

'I swear if you do I'll...I'll never talk to you again!'

'An empty threat if I've ever heard one.'

'Indeed. You'd miss us too much.

'Who would you get up to mischief with?'

'I won't get in trouble anymore without you two, and I think that's a good thing.'

'Oi, its your fault we managed to get caught--who knew you were scared of ickle spiders?'

'Hey, that thing was as big as a snitch and you know it!'

'She's just like Ron, isn't she?'

'She even screams like him.'

'Yea, like a little girl!'

'Shut up you two! Look.'

The three looked at the parchment and saw that they were now missing only one word.

'What an odd phrase,' Evey said, sitting on the couch and frowning down at the parchment.

'Yeah, who says things like that?' George said, sitting to Evey's left.

'Obviously these blokes,' Fred responded, settling himself on her right**.**

'Merlin, only one more word...what could it be?' Evey said to herself.

Under the nearly completed phrase, writing appeared again.

_Mr. Padfoot feels it is his duty and obligation to help Miss Collins solve this particular riddle. You see, Miss Collins, Sometimes Only Little Eleven-year-olds Make Nasty Little Yarns._

The three eleven year olds stared at the phrase in confusion.

'What the bloody hell does that mean?' Fred said.

'These blokes have lost their marbles,' George added.

Evey read the phrase silently to herself several more times before smiling, 'No George, I don't think they have. This Mr. Padfoot fellow is very clever, indeed.'

The twins switched their look of confusion towards Every instead of the parchment.

'Don't you get it?' she said excitedly. 'Its a mnemonic device!'

'Looks like the bloke from the parchment isn't the only one who's lost his marbles,' Fred said with a smirk, and George chuckled.

'No, really, it's a mnemonic device! This Mr. Padfoot guy used the letters from the missing word in a seemingly meaningless phrase to hint to us what the final word is!'

'Meaning...?'

'Meaning that the first letter from each of the words in that phrase spell out the missing word! Sometimes Only Little Eleven-year-olds Make Nasty Little Yarns! S-O-L-E-M-N-L-Y! Solemnly!'

As she said the word it appeared in the blank space, and little ink coloured fireworks went off silently around the finished phrase.

_Mr. Wormtail wishes to congratulate Miss Collins and Messrs. Weasley on solving the Secret of the Marauders Map._

_Mr. Moony would like to inform the new owners of this map that the first ten words of the phrase are used to activate this parchment and the last two to turn it off, or else anybody can read it. Remember to tap your wand as you speak as it is a spell._

_Mr. Prongs hopes that Miss Collins and Messrs. Weasley use this magnificent map for the purposes of sneaking, mischief, mayhem, pranking, and all around tomfoolery._

_Mr. Padfoot bids you goodnight and happy pranking!_

And with that the parchment cleared, leaving Evey, Fred, and George in total awe.

'Someone get a wand, quick,' Evey said quietly but urgently, and all three of them raced upstairs to their respective dorms as one.

They were back moments later, each with their wand in hand.

'Ok,' Fred said, 'who says it first?'

'How about we all say it?' Evey suggested.

The twins nodded and all three touched the parchment with their wands.

They muttered in unison, 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.'

As the Marauders Map revealed itself to them for the first time, they grinned wickedly--they knew this would be the key to their success.

* * *

Ok, so there's chappie number four! Hope you all enjoyed it--it was REALLY long, I know; don't get used to it, lol. If you love me, please review...I'll give you a cookie if you do :-)


	5. To Conduct an Experiment

Hello all! I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't post yesterday...or I could be deluding myself into thinking that. ANYWAY, the reason is cause I'm now working thirty hours a week since school is out, so my energy is pretty much non-existent by the time I get home.

Also, I feel as if no one is enjoying this story which really hurts. I've been working on it since September, and I have been reluctant to post it because a) I'm incredibly self consious about my work (which is a HUGE part of my life as I've been writing for about 75 of my twenty three years of living) and b) I was worried that this would happen--a laughable amount of hits and only one review each chapter from my friend cause she knows I'd kill her otherwise (just kidding Julie).

So, its come to this; I'm begging you, readers, please review. It could be one word, it could be a thousand--I don't really care. It doesn't take more than a few minutes at most and it would really mean a lot. Trust me, I know what you don't want to review--I used to never review. Then I did once just to tell the author I loved her work and would be sticking around to read the rest of her work; since then I've reviewed every single one of her chapters on all her WIP's.

So, here's my last plea--please just let me know you like this story. If not, I'm gonna stop posting and I'm gonna pull the chapters off the site.

Enjoy.

A/N: Everything you recognize is JK's...everything else came from my own mind.

In the following months, Evey, Fred, and George became close friends, Lee eventually joining their little circle of trouble. Evey loved the magical world--everyday she saw something new that completely blew her mind. But, as with the Muggle world, with the good comes the bad--in this case, the bad was a Slytherin third year named Odette Saint-Pierre.

As is common amongst first years, blood history was shared, and Odette happened to overhear Evey's Muggle heritage. From that day, she teased Evey mercilessly, as did her two friends Christina "Chrissi" Clarke and Marianela Williams. Fred and George protected their new friend as best they could, but their constant presence only seemed to make things worse as Odette started getting really nasty, calling Evey their whore and laughing aloud that the boys were her pimps. Evey quickly learned to stick up for herself, returning the Slytherin's verbal taunts and trying not to let the girls get to her.

After countless weeks of between class hexes, being tripped in the hallways, and much verbal bashing, Evey had enough and retaliated with a handy little spell she read about in the library.

She walked away from the incident with two weeks detention with Snape and 15 less points for Gryffindor, and Odette walked away with 24 less inches of hair.

_'Totally worth it,' _Evey thought as she scrubbed cauldrons the muggle way.

As their first year drew to a close, Evey was invited to the twins' home, the Burrow, for the last few weeks of the summer holidays. They spent their days swimming in a clear, deep lake near the house, and their nights scheming in the twins' bedroom, ensuring they kept their voices low as the boys' mother didn't share their appreciation for pranking. More than once, Mrs. Weasley smiled at the heart warming sight of the three eleven year olds asleep on the floor, Evey snuggled comfortably between the twins.

In their second year, Fred, George, Angie and Alicia joined the House Quidditch team, which was captained by the twins' older brother, Charlie. During practices, Evey could usually be found in the stands, cheering and laughing whenever someone was hit by a bludger. Sometimes she was joined by Lee or Patricia or the boys' other roommate, Kenny, but whether alone or with others, Evey was always there.

Evey spent practically her entire summer with the Weasleys after Second Year, the three of them spending most of their time in the twins' bedroom thinking up new pranks and inventions. This could be a painful process - the three singeing each others eyebrows off on numerous occasions as well as suffering other more painful and embarrassing consequences for which they thought up increasingly wild explanations. And every night, Evey could be found sleeping on the floor between Fred and George. She loved them both like the brothers she never had, and didn't know how she lived without them for so long.

It was during her third year that things got interesting. It was the night of the Halloween feast and everyone had gone up to bed except for Angelina, Evey, Fred and George, who were laughing and joking in the common room, picking at the remains of the dessert they snuck up from the kitchens.

'Evey,' George said quietly, 'did your parents write you back yet?'

Evey sighed and tossed her loose maroon coloured locks over her shoulder. 'Not yet. They weren't exactly pleased when I told them I'd only be staying with them for a week then I'd be spending the rest of the holidays with my two best friends who happen to be guys. I mean, here I thought I was doing them a favour so they didn't have to be around my "weirdness" but as it turns out, they were more disappointed that I'd rather shack up with two blokes in Devon.'

George's jaw dropped. 'They didn't actually say that did they?'

Evey shook her head, her soft curls flying everywhere, 'Not exactly but I could tell that's what they meant. It's all about appearances with them, remember?'

George nodded sadly, his shaggy ginger hair falling into his chocolate eyes. A strange noise suddenly attracted their attention and they were shocked to see Fred and Angie attached at the lips! Evey glanced at George, who looked like he was about to take great pleasure in interrupting the lip lock. Before he could say a word, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his seat, dragging him to the small alcove behind the Fat Lady's portrait. The two teens tried to stifle their laughter, their cheeks turning red and eyes watering as they clasped their hands over their mouths. Their sides ached from their attempts to keep quiet and they took long, deep breaths to try and regain control.

'Bloody hell I can't believe she finally did it,' Evey gasped out eventually and George looked at her in surprise.

'What do you mean "she"? You don't think Angie initiated this do you?'

'Of course I do! She's been talking about it for ages.'

'So has Fred--he's fancied her for about a year now.'

They stood in silence for a few moments, the sounds of the crackling fire place and what seemed to be very sloppy kissing meeting their ears.

'How do they even know how to do that?'

'Huh?' a startled George said.

'Well, how do they know how to kiss like that? I mean, its not exactly like everyone takes lessons on it, is it?'

George shrugged, 'Dunno. Our brother Bill once told us that when it comes to things like...like that, we're just born with the knowledge.'

'Hmm, instinct. Interesting theory.I wonder if it's true...'

George knew that tone of voice--Evey was wondering if she could conduct an experiment. He and Fred had learned in their first year that not only did their new friend have a wicked sense of humour, but she was also incredibly bright. She loved learning new things--she even enjoyed History of Magic, much to the twins shock and horror.She loved figuring out how everything worked, the reason why everything was the way it was. If she ever doubted anything, she could be found in the library until she discovered the true answer. Madam Pince had already grown to love the young Gryffindor, especially when Evey decided to repair a book another student had torn before handing it back to the librarian.

George knew Evey would be impossible to live with if she didn't get answers and surprised himself by saying, 'Do you want to try it?'

Evey's head whipped around so fast George was afraid she'd hurt herself. Her green eyes were wide, her mouth slightly agape.

She was speechless for what felt like hours before she said, 'I'm sorry, what did you say?'

'I said "do you wanna try it?"' George repeated, suddenly feeling very awkward.

He had never done anything like this before--the closest he had come is when his Aunt Mildred would give him and his siblings very unnecessary greeting kisses. He suddenly had a horrible thought **--** what if he wasn't any good at it? What if she thought he was rubbish?He didn't want Evey to tease him about his lack of finesse**--**or be disappointed by the kiss. Wait, why did he care what Evey thought? Did he fancy her? No way! Not possible! The poor teen was helpless as this war waged inside his mind until Evey's voice broke through the din.

'Alright.'

George's brown eyes widened, his eyebrows disappearing into his fringe.

'Really?'

'For scientific purposes, of course.'

'Of course,' he agreed quickly.

Evey nodded curtly before closing her eyes, standing up on the balls of her feet and puckering her lips. George thought she rather looked like a fish but decided to keep that opinion to himself. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and started to lean down. A fraction of a second before their lips met, they heard the familiar tapping of McGonagall's shoes echoing through the hallway outside, coming towards the portrait--straight for the common room! Knowing they'd get a detention for being out of bed after curfew, the two quickly dashed out of their hiding spot and grabbed their respective roommates (much to their annoyance), dragging them up to their dorms. The bedroom doors closed mere seconds before the portrait downstairs opened to reveal the abandoned common room.

Please review or I'll delete the story. No joke.


	6. The Walk

Hello all!

I'd like to start off by apologizing for the threat at the beginning of the last chapter (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, maybe you should go look again). I only did it because I wanted to know if I was wasting time on this story or not.

Now I know that I'm not.

A HUGE thanks to remuslives23, twinfeathers, cascade88, peace.love.and.becky, and my anonymous reviewer Em for their kind words and threats to not end this story :-)

I hope to see more reviews from you five and everyone else in the future.

Enjoy this overdue chapter everyone!

A/N: All you recognize is JK's...the rest is from my crazy brain.

Evey and George never brought up their almost kiss, not to each other or any of their friends. Fred and Angie were now officially a couple, though, attached at the lips and the hips, much to their friends annoyance.

Before they knew it, they were starting their Fifth Year, stressing about their OWL's and about the escape of notorious murderer Sirius Black. Evey had read about the man in the newspaper and was terrified to leave the castle, let alone go to Hogsmeade. So, during the Hogsmeade visit on Halloween, Evey hung back while the others went to the wizarding village.

After doing all her homework, some of which wasn't due for a few weeks, and cleaning out her trunk and knapsack, she tried seeing just how many books she could levitate before they fell, her experiment coming to a hasty end when ten heavy textbooks fell on a group of firsties. Unable to find any other distractions for her boredom in the common room, Evey decided to take a walk around the castle before the others came back.

She strolled casually through the empty halls, looking out the windows at the red and orange leaves. She loved the fall--the colours were so pretty! She stopped at one of the windows, leaning against the sill and watching the fallen leaves dance in the wind. It was a beautiful sight and it captured her full attention...so she didn't hear three seventh year Slytherin girls approaching until they were right behind her.

'Well, well, well, if it isn't the Gryffindor Whore.'

Evey spun around, startled by the voice so close to her. 'Odette! How wonderful to see you! Tell me, has the bleach burned through to your brain yet?'

Odette Saint-Pierre narrowed her crystal blue eyes, her straight blonde hair hanging perfectly over her shoulders.

'I'll have you know that this is my natural hair colour--besides, if I did want to change it, I'd use magic, not primitive means like I was a common Mudblood.'

Odette and her two lackeys laughed at the rather bad joke as Evey rolled her eyes and hoped they were done bothering her so she can continue her walk.

When the laughing finally ceased, Odette spoke, 'Now why are you out all by your lonesome? Where are your pimps? Aw, did they go to Hogsmeade without you?'

'At least we're still allowed to go, unlike some people,' Evey shot back.

It was true; Odette, Chrissi and Marianela had been banned from all Hogwarts trips this year because they were caught hexing a Hufflepuff firstie in the hall. Evey knew from personal experience that it wasn't the girls' first time torturing the younger students, just the first time they'd been caught.

Odette narrowed her eyes, 'Don't start with me, Collins.'

Despite herself, the look in Odette's eyes made Evey feel a little afraid and she wished with all her heart that she hadn't left her wand in the common room.

'Why not? Gonna attack an unarmed witch again? Tsk tsk tsk, Odette, I thought you were more original than that. But, then again, I suppose after all those years of inbreeding your poor little brain can't help but repeat the same tired old ideas.'

The last words had barely left her lips before Evey found herself flying across the hallway and into the wall.

'Wrong thing to say, Collins. You're definitely gonna pay for that,' the blonde Slytherin hissed.

Evey smiled, trying to hide the fact she was in a great deal of pain, 'Oh I am, am I? What are you gonna do, flip your hair at me?'

Seconds later a Cutting hex hit her left bicep, sending a searing pain through her arm.

'Clever,' Evey said through gritted teeth as she stood up slowly, her right hand gripping her arm as blood soaked through her shirt quickly. 'But you can't seriously consider that revenge.'

As if rehearsed, the three Slytherins raised their wands and shot three different spells right at Evey's chest. From Chrissi, a Jelly Legs Jinx; from Marianela, a Leg Locker Curse; and from Odette, a very powerful Stunner.

The strength from the combined spells slammed Evey's body back into the stone wall behind her, several protruding stones hitting her in the back of the head and in the left shoulder. She felt herself falling, and tried using her right hand to catch herself. But as her legs gave way beneath her, the heel of her hand jammed against the stone floor. A sharp pain went up her arm as a sickening CRACK resounded in the stone hall.

She collapsed on the ground, involuntarily tears of pain leaking from her eyes. She could hear Odette laughing as she stood over her.

'Had enough, Mudblood?' she said with a smirk, and didn't even wait for a response before continuing. 'Well, we aren't through with you quite yet.'

And so the three Slytherins kicked, hexed and beat the now passed out Gryffindor before eventually deciding they were bored and left Evey alone, unconscious and bleeding, on the cold stone floor of the hall.

Meanwhile, back in the Gryffindor common room, Fred, George, Lee, Angie and Aliciahad arrived back at the castle and were looking over their purchases. The boys were laughing over the new joke items they had bought at Zonko's, and the girls were swapping candy that they had purchased at Honeydukes.

'Oh, did you get any liquorice wands? I forgot to grab some,' Alicia asked Angie as she took a bite of a chocolate bar.

Angie nodded, 'Yea, but I got them for Evey...speaking of Evey, where is she?'

The boys looked up. 'Isn't she up in the dorm?' Fred asked.

Angie shook her head, 'No; when we went to put our cloaks away the dorm was empty.'

'Maybe she's in the Great Hall?'

'No; its too late for lunch and too early for dinner,' George said.

'Library?' Fred suggested.

'All of her books are on her bed,' Angie said.

'Well should we wait for her to come back or go look for her?' Alicia asked the group.

'Maybe we should wait until dinner; if she doesn't show up by the time we decide to go down, we'll skive and go look for her,' Fred suggested.

The group agreed, and decided to wait another hour before looking for their missing friend. When it came time to go to dinner and Evey still had not shown up, the group of friends decided it was time to search for her. As Angie and Alicia immediately headed out, the boys raced up the stairs in search of the Marauder's Map.

It was under George's mattress, and after activating it the three boys searched the map for Evey's name. Finally, they saw a little banner which read "C. EVELYN COLLINS." The boysdidn't know what the "C" at the beginning of her name stood for but had learned long ago not to question the it unless you want to be in the hospital wing overnight.

'She's down by the Trophy Room...but that corridor's a dead end. Why would she be down there?' Lee said.

'And why isn't she moving?' George asked worriedly, after noticing the small dot representing his friend hadn't moved since they spotted it.

'Let's go,' Fred declared, clearing the map and stuffing it under his mattress before the three sprinted out of their dorm, through the common room, and out the Portrait Hole.

The three boys ran as fast as their legs could carry them, taking all the short cuts they could and even jumping down flights of stairs. Their pounding footsteps echoed off the abandoned corridor by the Trophy room.

'Where is she?' Lee said as they started to look around.

As they looked up and down the hall, the sun came out from behind a cloud, shining through the windows and onto a collapsed figure on the floor.

'Dear Merlin,' George gasped before dashing forward, Fred and Lee at his heels.

He fell to his knees besides Evey, and sharply inhaled as he saw how bruised and bloody she was, and how uneven and strained her breathing seemed.

'Bloody hell,' Fred whispered as he kneeled next to his twin.

'Who could've done something like this?' Lee said as he stared down in horror at just how awful Evey looked.

'If I ever find out, I'll kill them,' George said strongly. 'For now, we've got to get her to the Hospital Wing.'

'Wait!' Fred said, halting George's action as he moved to lift Evey off the ground. 'What if it isn't safe to move her? What if it makes things worse.'

At this George whipped his wand out of his pocket, 'That's where this comes in handy.'

Using the Mobilicorpus spell, he quickly but carefully manoeuvred Evey's limp body through hallways and down a flight of stairs to the Hospital Wing on the first floor. Fred and Lee pushed the doors open and started yelling for Madam Pomfrey as George carefully laid Evey on the nearest bed. Quickly the Matron appeared, angered by the screaming but immediately silencing when she saw the state of young Miss Collins.

She shooed the boys out the door, saying they could come back later after she had fixed her up. George looked back and caught the quick glimpse of bruised alabaster skin and a pink bra before the Hospital Wing doors shut him and the others out.

So what did you all think? I know its a little cliche and Mary-Sue to have the main character critically injured but ya know what its my story and I like it. I don't even wanna tell you how long it took me to figure out exactly how Evey would hit the wall then fall to the ground; I actually mimed it in my bedroom so I'd get it exactly right. Dorky? Yes, but I don't care cause I love how it came out.

And now I'm gonna borrow and slightly modify a line from my dear friend Julie (remuslives23...btw, go read her new one-shot called "Body and Heart" as yours truly helped with it...though keep in mind its not for the non-smut-minded people like Julie and me):

If you leave a review, I'll give you the chocolate covered character of your choice! But stay away from George; he's mine ;-)


	7. Diagnosis and Prognosis

Hello all! Here's number seven! I was thinking about waiting a few more days before posting but since I actually have the time today and I won't tomorrow, I thought I wouldn't put you through the misery lol.

Before I let you start reading though, I have a few thank yous:  
remuslives23 for reviewing and editing and everything else she does for me  
cascade88 for reviewing  
butherecomesthefall for reviewing  
and my two anonymous reviewers Matilda and mcc

One last thing, my standard A/N: Anything you recognize (which will be quite a bit in this chapter) belongs to the wonderful JKR...everything else belongs to me.

Enjoy!

Fred, George, and Lee paced restlessly outside the large wooden doors, waiting for the Matron to come out and tell them something, anything, about how Evey was doing. Finally, after what seemed like three hours but was only forty five minutes, one of the doors swung open. The boys rushed towards Madam Pomfrey, all asking questions at once.

The Matron held up her hands. 'If you all talk at once I can't hear you! If you be quiet, I can tell you how Miss Collins is.'

The boys snapped their jaws shut and Madam Pomfrey took a deep breath.

'It appears that Miss Collins was involved in some sort of physical altercation. She has numerous scrapes and bruises, including quite a long, deep gash on her left bicep, which was probably done with a cutting hex. She also has a few broken ribs, causing a hemopneumothorax--or punctured and bloody right lung, her left shoulder was dislocated, she has a closed displaced fracture of the right ulna--'

'A what?' asked George, his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

'--a broken right forearm, Mr. Weasley,' the nurse explained. 'She also suffered from blunt force trauma to the back of the skull, causing a cracked skull and a minor concussion. I concluded that there was some spell work done, as her legs were magically stuck together. I was able to wrap, splint, and do some preliminary Healing, including a spell that will help her breathe easier, but until she can wake up and consume potions and communicate with me, I can do no more.'

'But she will wake up, right?' George asked anxiously, concerned about the extent of Evey's injuries. 'She'll be ok?'

'Yes, Mr. Weasley--it will just take time. Now, you may visit if you wish BUT--' she raised her voice as the boys rushed towards the door, stopping them in their tracks. 'Only if you stay quiet so as not to wake her, you all behave yourselves, and you agree to leave the moment I tell you to.'

The boys quickly agreed to the Matron's terms and rushed into the Hospital Wing to Evey's bedside. She looked liked an Egyptian mummy from a Muggle horror film with stark white bandages around her head and her right forearm, and her left arm held tight against her body in a sling. They could see more of the bandages peeking out from under her plain standard issue hospital wing gown, the white of the crepe standing out starkly against the darkening bruises on her lightly freckled skin. Her face was littered with cuts and bruises, her lip swollen and bloody and both eyes sporting very impressive shiners. Her breathing had evened out but, although they were regular, the inhales seemed a little ragged and forced.

'She looks...awful,' Lee finally said quietly.

Fred nodded, 'Well said, mate,' but George was silent, staring down at Evey in horror.

The three boys were absolutely furious; who could've done this, and why? Each boy felt incredibly guilty for leaving her in the castle alone while they went to Hogsmeade and had fun. They sat in silence, drowning in their remorse, until Madam Pomfrey finally shooed them out the door for the Halloween Feast. The boys were reluctant to leave Evey before she awoke, but they eventually conceded and left.

They were bombarded with question from their friends when they got to the feast, and the girls quickly burst into tears when they learned what happened to Evey. The group barely ate, too worried about their friend, and as soon as they could leave the feast they went up to the common room, intending to change clothes before rushing up to the infirmary.

However, when they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady, they were shocked to see that it had been viciously slashed to ribbons, the Lady herself missing. Within minutes, all of Gryffindor plus several professors were listening to Peeves the poltergeist tell them what a nasty temper that Sirius Black has.

Not ten minutes later, every student in the school were being hustled into the Great Hall, told they'd be spending the night there while the school was searched for any sign that Black might be lingering. Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia were frightened for Evey--who was still in the Hospital Wing and, when they saw Madam Pomfrey about to leave the Hall, they ran to stop her.

'Madam Pomfrey, Madam Pomfrey!'

The Matron stopped and turned towards the students.

'Evey--she's still in the Wing...will she be alright?' George asked as he and the others came to a stop before her.

Madam Pomfrey nodded, 'Yes, Mr. Weasley, I have locked the doors and the Headmaster is on his way to check the wing himself before sealing the doors with very strong protective spells.'

'But she'll be all alone! What if she wakes up and panics?' Angelina asked.

'I will be in there with her, Miss Johnson. She needs to be supervised; she's still in a very delicate stage of her healing. You may all visit her in the morning when the Headmaster deems the school safe. Now, to bed with all of you; I will not be giving you any Pepper-up Potion if you show up in my infirmary half asleep tomorrow.'

The group of friends reluctantly agreed and made their way to the big purple sleeping bags Dumbledore had conjured for everyone. It was hard for the five to fall asleep that night, worried about the mass murderer that was possibly roaming the halls and their dear friend lying unconscious in the Hospital Wing.

They all slept lightly that night, and awoke quite early the next morning. After a brief breakfast and rushed showers, the group of Gryffindors were sprinting towards the Hospital Wing. When they arrived, their jaws dropped--Evey was sitting up in bed, talking to Professor Dumbledore.

She looked much better; all the cuts and bruising to her face had been healed, her face blemish free. Her wrist and shoulder were no longer wrapped in gauze but it was quite obvious that she was holding them very carefully. She seemed to be breathing easier, which the group was sure was an excellent sign of recovery. When Evey saw her friends out of the corner of her eye, she turned and smiled at them.

'Hey you lot! It's about time you showed up,' she said with a small smile.

Immediately the group rushed over, all talking at once and quite loudly. Evey's eyes closed tightly and she held her right hand up, silencing the others.

'I appreciate your concern, but my head still really hurts,' she said with a wince. 'Do you think you could talk one at a time and maybe a little more quietly?'

The rowdy group apologized in much lower voices as they gathered around Evey's hospital bed and the wing backed chair the Headmaster was sitting in.

'We aren't intruding, are we Professor?' Alicia asked timidly.

'Not at all, Miss Spinnet,' Dumbledore said kindly. 'I was just asking Miss Collins here if she knew the identity of her attackers.'

'That's something we'd all like to know,' George said darkly, the usual playful glint in his deep brown eyes masked by fury.

Evey sighed, 'Who do you think it was? Odette and her cronies, of course! Oh, er, I mean Miss Saint-Pierre, Miss Clarke, and Miss Williams.'

It was all George could do not to sprint out of there and hex that Slytherin bitch into oblivion. Dumbledore steepled his fingers and nodded slowly.

'I see. Now, Miss Collins, I should ask if you wish to press charges against these girls--there was a considerable amount of physical damage done to you as well as a combination of hexes that are still affecting your legs.'

Evey thought about it for a moment before answering, 'I dunno, Professor. I'd ask my father what he thought, but...well, its not exactly an option. What do you think I should do?'

'I have a friend in the Ministry who deals with Magical Law--if you wish, I could arrange a meeting between the two of you, when you are feeling better of course.'

'I suppose that would be a good idea.'

'Excellent! Now, I'll just be off to talk to Professor Flitwick--I'm sure he'll be able to solve the little problem you are having with your legs.'

'Thank you, Professor,' Evey said as the Headmaster disappeared from view.

As soon as the Hospital Wing doors closed, the healthier Gryffindors started to rant and rave.

'Those BITCHES!'

'How DARE they attack you!'

'I don't care if I do get life in Azkaban, I'm gonna KILL them!'

'We'll NEVER leave you alone again, I swear!'

'We'll stay RIGHT HERE until you're all better!'

'Guys, please--I wasn't kidding about my head,' she said a little desperately as her head pounded, and the group quieted immediately.

George sat on the edge of Evey's bed, and gently took her right hand in both of his, 'Are you sure you're alright?'

Evey smiled slightly, 'Other than the fact that my legs are stuck together, yes I'm fine.'

'How did that happen?' Lee asked.

'Well, Odette's followers are smarter than we thought--one hit me with a Leg Locker, the other with a Jelly Legs. Madam Pomfrey said the resulting effect is pretty much paralysis. Flitwick should be able to reverse it, but if he can't, I have to go to St. Mungo's.'

'Don't worry, you'll be fine; Flitwick is great with this kind of stuff,' Angelina comforted Evey.

Evey sighed and nodded, and her friends kept her entertained while she waited for the small Charms teacher to show up. George didn't let go of her hand for one second, and she was comforted by the reassuring, protective touch.

Flitwick was able to reverse some of the damage and she regained some movement in her legs--unfortunately though, she was going to have to undergo physical therapy to regain all of the strength she'd lost, the combined spells having destroyed much of her muscle mass. She was upset to discover she would need to stay in the Hospital Wing until she could walk again, a goal that could take anywhere from one to six months to achieve, depending on how hard she was willing to work at her therapy. Her friends saw her distress and promised to visit her everyday, George squeezing her hand and smiling supportively. The Fifth Years were then ushered firmly out the door by the Matron who told them they were going to be late for class and she was NOT about to write excuse notes for them.

Hooray, Evey's going to be ok! Well, I already knew that but still HOORAY! As always, reviewing is much appreciated--this time your prize will be the character of your choice living in your closet to do with what you will (if that isn't motivation to review, I don't know what is lol).


	8. The Last Straw

Hello hello hello everyone! Welcome back to _Always There For You_! I'm glad to see that so many of you enjoy the story so far--and I haven't even really started it yet; this is still mostly background info! I'm very detail oriented, lol.

Thanks to all of my reviewers for this chapter:

cascade88 (my dear friend)  
Lyric Mania (a new reviewer!)  
remuslives23 (my wonderful editor and friend :-) )  
LadyFabulous (another new reviewer!)  
butherecomesthefall  
Mahsa FF (another new reviewer!)  
and last but not least my two anonymous reviewers mcc and Matilda

Thanks to everyone who reads!

Enjoy chapter eight!

A/N: As always, everything you recognize is JKR's...the rest is mine :-)

The group kept their promise and visited Evey every time they had a spare minute -- between classes, during free periods, during meals, as well as first thing in the morning and the last thing before curfew. But no one visited her more than the twins, one or the other of them always by her bedside. They had even attempted to stay overnight -- hiding in various places around the ward but, after Madame Pomfrey caught them for the fourth time and threatened to ban them altogether, they gave up. Somehow, the twins managed to convince Madam Pomfrey to allow Evey to attend a Quidditch game one Saturday - Gryffindor (the twins as Beaters) against Hufflepuff. Their friends, Kenny and Patty had to carry her to the Pitch as her legs were still weak, though slowly improving; she was able to wiggle her toes and flex her ankles now.

The game was phenomenal, even though it was pouring rain. It was much more intense than previous matches against Hufflepuff--they were actually putting up a fight this time and Evey thought she would pass out every time she saw one of the twins nearly get hit by a bludger or fall from their broom. But towards the end of the match, the chilling wind died down and it turned ice cold. The noise from the crowd slowly died down then there were several screams as the Dementors invaded the field. Gasping in shock, a trembling Evey suddenly got dizzy, everything in her vision becoming blurry...

_'I can't BELIEVE you're doing this to your mother and me! You should be ashamed of yourself!' _

_'Why, Charlene? Don't you love us?' _

_'Of course I do, mother, but please call me--' _

_'THAT IS NOT YOUR NAME AND YOU ARE NOT GOING BACK TO THAT...THAT FREAK SCHOOL!'_

_'It's not a freak school, father! Its a very prestigious school!' _

_'No, St. George's is a prestigious school--this, this Hogwarts is nothing but a joke! An embarrassment! If you go back, you will not be allowed back in this house!' _

_'Edward, we can't...what would the neighbours think? What would we tell everyone?' _

_'You're absolutely right, Victoria. Now you listen to me, young lady--as long as you are a child you are free to call this your home, even if you insist on going back to that place; but the moment you are an adult I want you out.' _

_'Father...' _

_'I don't want to hear it, Charlene. I will not support a freak forever...'_

With a scream, the blurriness and the voices in her head disappeared, and Evey was sitting straight up in a bed in the Hospital Wing.

'Evey, Evey! It's alright!'

Evey stopped screaming and looked to her right to see George sitting beside her holding her hand. He looked so worried, his brow furrowed and his brown eyes tinged with fear. After a few shuddering breaths, Evey began sobbing, and George was quickly beside her on the bed, holding her in his arms.

'What-what ha-happened to me?' Evey eventually choked out.

'Dementors,' George explained. 'Pomfrey told us you're still in a weakened state from your attack last week and easily susceptible to their effects.'

Evey looked up at him, a slight smile on her tear-stained face, 'I didn't know you knew such big words.'

'Oh, I don't,' George admitted. 'I'm quoting her word for word.' Evey smiled and a grin spread across George's face.

'There's the smile I love!'

A strange shiver ran down Evey's spine. Her smile broadened even as she tried to ignore the sensation.

'So,' George said quietly, his cheeks strangely flushed. 'Do you wanna talk about whatever you saw?'

Evey sighed and allowed her eyes to drop to the white sheet that covered her legs, 'It was...what my parents said to me before I left for the Burrow last summer.'

George nodded and held her tighter--not many people knew about Evey's relationship with her aristocratic parents. In fact, the twins were the only people with whom she'd discussed the estranged relationship. When Evey arrived at the Burrow after her argument with her parents, she spent the first night locked in the twins' room in tears and telling them what they said to her. She trusted them implicitly, and she knew that no matter what, anything she said to them in confidence would never be repeated to anyone else.

'I said it last summer and I'll say it again--give me the word and I'll turn them into canaries.'

Evey smiled and let out a small laugh, 'That would be quite a sight but again, I must refuse.'

George smirked, 'Alright if you say so.'

Evey nodded into his chest, 'So what happened at the game?'

'Well, we lost, if that's what you're wondering.'

'What? Why?'

'The Dementors attacked Harry…poor kid fell at least fifty feet! Well, of course, as he fell, Diggory caught the snitch and Hufflepuff won. Dumbledore was able to slow Harry down and he barely hurt himself, but we had to carry him up here anyway. So, after he finally woke up, Pomfrey said we had to clear out and that's when Fred and I saw Patty and Kenny walking toward the door, too. We asked them why they were here and they told us they had to carry you back here after you passed out. Fred and I were worried and Madame Pomfrey said we could sit with you so here I am - your loyal subject, refusing to leave your side.'

'Where's Fred?'

George felt a little stab that she'd asked after his brother but answered, 'He's asleep--we decided to take shifts waiting up for you about an hour ago, and I got first shift.'

'Oh, ok,' Evey said, her eyelids getting heavy.

'Evey, I just want to say that we--Fred and I--are sorry for making you come to the game when you obviously weren't strong enough yet.'

'No worries,' Evey said through a yawn. 'I haven't missed a game of yours and I never will, no matter what.'

George smiled and looked down when he felt her go slack in his arms--she was asleep again. He positioned her comfortably in the hospital cot then sat back in the chair beside her. He felt horrible about seeing Evey unconscious twice in one week--he felt the need, the desire to protect her, and he and Fred would do so to the best of their ability.

* * *

Eventually, Evey was released from the Hospital Wing--she still had trouble walking long distances, and still got dizzy every once in a while, but she was much better than she had been. Odette, Chrissi and Marianela were expelled from Hogwarts for attempted murder of a fellow student--something Evey thought was a bit extreme but she couldn't pretend she wasn't glad to see the back of the girls…and their new and improved hair styles.

The twins couldn't allow the Slytherins to get off with just expulsion for what they did to Evey (not nearly punishment enough in their eyes) and decided to hit Odette where it would hurt the most. So, as the three girls were leaving the school for the last time, their exit was punctuated with laughter from their classmates as they caught sight of their new hairstyles - lime green crew cuts. Luckily, even though Odette swore up, down and sideways that 'that stupid Mudblood and her blood-traitor pimps' were to blame, she had no proof, and the mysterious hair-dressers got away punishment free.

Little did Odette know that she should have been grateful that she got off so easily - her hair-cut was originally paired with painful body-covering boils; but as Healers could trace the magic surrounding the boils to the wand (or wands) that cast the spell, that plan was shelved. But despite the Slytherins' lack of boils, Evey had no reason to complain as she laughed right alongside her friends at the unfortunate new hair-dos on the former Hogwarts students.

One thing Evey did complain about, however, was the fact that the twins had seemed to become her shadows; everywhere she went, the twins were three steps behind her. She understood that their intentions were good, but after she had to stop them from following her into the girls' lavatory on more than one occasion, she was getting fed up.

'Ok, stop it!' she said forcefully as she pushed the twins away from the lavatory entrance.

'What?'

'This! You've been following me for two weeks now, and I'm sick of it!'

'What? Oh, don't be ridiculous Evey, we haven't been-'

'Don't try and fool me, Fred--I've seen you guys stalking me and don't think that I don't know you've been watching me on that bloody map as well!'

The twins gasped.

'Evelyn!' George said, in shock, 'How dare you defile the key to our success!'

'Bullocks!' she yelled, causing some passing students stop to witness the scene. 'What is with you two? You're supposed to be my friends, not my--my stalkers!'

'We aren't stalkers!'

'Fred's right--we're just worried about you.'

'Yea, after that Odette thing, and then the Quidditch match--'

'Stop,' Evey said, holding her hand up to silence the two as she hung her head. She hated feeling so powerless and the twins, even with their good intentions, had only intensified the helplessness she was already feeling. Her temper rose as she took her frustration out on the well meaning boys.

'I cannot believe you two. You don't think I can take care of myself? Alright, so I forgot my wand ONE TIME, and that whole Dementor thing…well, that was just bad timing, wasn't it? But it's no reason to watch me like I'm helpless. Friends don't do this to each other. And right now…right now I think it best that we don't speak for a while.'

The boys tried to protest, but Evey held her hand up and raised her voice, 'DON'T TRY TO TALK ME OUT OF THIS! Just--just leave me alone.'

With tears in her eyes and a sob in her throat, she pushed between Fred and George, shouldered her way through the crowd that had gathered, and ran all the way back to Gryffindor tower, making it to her room before she finally let her tears fall.

A cliffy! Heehee, I love being evil :-) If enough people leave reviews, I might just post sooner than Thursday like I'm planning to...just hit the little gray button...please don't kill me lol


	9. An Unexpected Letter

Hello everyone! Forgiven me yet for my awful cliffy? LoL. I know I said I'd post yesterday but my little sister graduated from high school (yay for her, but don't I feel old? lol) and I was so busy all day.

Anyway, many thanks going out this chapter to a lot of people:

cascade88  
Lyric Mania  
remuslives23  
butherecomesthefall (btw, yes I know I'm mean lol)  
Lady Fabulous  
new reviewer lilredroses9793  
and new reviewer alisonrocks08

And of course thanks to everyone who is still reading :-)

Obligitory A/N: Whatever you recognize is JKR's...everything else is mine

* * *

The next few weeks were by far the worst of Evey, Fred, and George's lives. Though they were distraught over the "loss" of their friend, Fred and George acted as though nothing was at all out of the ordinary--pulling pranks on the Slytherins, attending Quidditch practice and matches, and of course working on products they plan to sell in the shop they hope to open after graduation.

When they were alone, however--whether in the library seemingly planning a brilliant prank or making it seem like they were going up to bed a little early--they were really figuring out what they could do to make Evey speak them again. They tried numerous times to send her notes and owl mail apologising for their overprotective behaviour, but when she recognized the handwriting she'd sent the parchment up in flames with a simple flick of her wand. They tried getting her alone to talk to her, but she acted as if they weren't even there and kept on doing whatever she was doing, making sure there was always someone else around.

Little did they know that ignoring them was the hardest thing Evey had ever done. At first she managed to hide her unhappiness from her room mates, putting up Silencing Spells at night so they couldn't hear her crying. She wasn't sleeping well but used a spell to hide the black rings around her eyes, she pretended to eat while just pushing the food around her plate, she didn't take notes in class - instead scribbling notes of apology and explanation to Fred and George… notes she never sent.

But one night, it all caught up with her. She forgot to put up her usual Silencing spell and her room mates heard her weeping. The other girls were concerned and spent some time trying to calm her down, Evey finding it difficult to stop the tears. She eventually managed to get the whole story out and how she now regretted shutting the boys out but didn't know how to make it better. She felt better after talking it through and her room mates agreed to keep her 'breakdown' a secret, Evey promising in return that, by the end of the month, she would find a way to speak to the twins.

It was December 18th, another Hogsmeade trip for the third-years and above. While the others bundled up in their jackets to face the frigid temperatures, Evey sat in one of the cushioned window seats in Gryffindor tower, wearing casual clothes and reading an assignment for Defence Against the Dark Arts. Today, she had her wand safely secured in the large pocket of her hoodie, just in case she decided to take another walk that didn't end so well.

After Angie, Alicia, Katie and Patty all tried in vain to convince her to join them one last time, she was finally left alone in the quiet, peaceful common room. With her cat, Dorothy, curled up at her feet, she was completely content with sitting where she was all afternoon.

Apparently, Life had other plans.

At about one o'clock, Evey heard the portrait open but didn't look up from her book. That is, not until she heard two very familiar voices muttering to each other. Quickly as she could, she closed her book, leapt off the window seat (much to the dismay of a sleeping Dorothy) and quickly hurried to the stairs. Luck was not on her side.

'Evey! Evey, wait, please!'

She tried to ignore the pleas and kept walking, but she felt two sets of arms wrap around her and lift her into the air.

'PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!' she yelled as she struggled to get out of their firm but gentle grips.

'Sorry, love, but we just can't do that.'

'Nope--not until we say what we have to say.'

'I don't want to hear it! AND DON'T CALL ME THAT!'

The twins gently sat her on the couch, hoping she'd stay still. Of course, she refused, popping straight back up to her feet.

'Evey, please sit still.'

'We don't want to Petrify you.'

Evey glared at each of the twins in turn but sat down again, stubbornly crossing her arms across her chest.

'Thank you,' the twins said in relief.

'Now,' Fred continued as he and George sat on the coffee table in front of her, 'we know you didn't like us…keeping an eye on you--'

'Stalking,' Evey corrected immediately.

'Alright, stalking,' Fred conceded.

'So we thought, "how could we possibly fix this little mess?"' George continued, rubbing his chin and furrowing his brow as if deep in thought.

'And then it came to us! Would you like to tell her, George?'

'Why not together, Fred?'

'Agreed!'

'We got rid of the map!' they cried happily as they leapt to their feet and threw their arms out dramatically.

Evey sat there, her green eyes flicking back and forth between the two ginger-heads.

'So?'

'So?!' George exclaimed as Fred scoffed. 'We got rid of the key to our success for you!'

'Why?'

'So you'd trust us again,' Fred said as he said beside Evey.

'And you'd talk to us again,' George added, sitting on Evey's other side.

'We miss you, Evey!' the twins cried out in faux agony as they piled themselves on the tiny girl between them.

'Ugh, get your fat arses off of me! You're crushing my lungs!' Evey shouted as she attempted to push the twins away, though laughter was lacing her words.

'Only when you forgive us!'

'And promise to talk to us again!'

'FINE! Now let me breathe!'

It was another minute before she could comfortably draw breath as the twins crushed her in a hug. Evey couldn't help but laugh and embrace them in return--she had missed her best mates.

* * *

The remainder of that year went by at a steady pace. Between the Sirius Black sightings, the Quidditch championship, and O.W.L.'s, Evey barely knew where the time went. At the end of the year, mere days before they were all to board the Hogwart's Express back home, Evey received a letter.

At breakfast the day after her final O.W.L. exam, an unfamiliar brown owl with hazel eyes landed in front of her.

'Who's is that?' Lee asked with a full mouth, earning him a head-slap from Angelina and Alicia when he spat bits of chewed bacon all over the place.

'No idea, I've never seen him--I mean, her before,' Evey said, correcting herself when the owl nipped her finger.

'Well are you going to open the letter or just stare at it all day?' Fred asked smartly.

Evey glared at him as she nimbly removed the letter from the owl's leg, giving the bird a crust of toast before it flew off. She never got post - no one but her parents knew she was here. Who would be writing to her? Evey immediately opened the letter and her eyes widened as she scanned the page.

_Charlene,_

After much discussion, your mother and I have decided we were a bit harsh to you last summer. We want nothing but the best for you , darling, and sometimes we forget that you know better about that then we. We look forward to your return home this summer, and your mother and I have a wonderful surprise for you! We hope you are excelling in your studies like we know you always have. We love you very much, my dear. Stay well, and we look forward to seeing you when you arrive at the train station on the eighteenth.

Your Father,

Edward G. Collins

Evey's jaw dropped in shock--what had gotten into her parents?! The letter was affectionate and warm…very unlike them, but it was her father's handwriting and his signature at the bottom…maybe they really had changed.

'What? Evey, what is it?' George asked, noticing the shock on his friend's face.

'It's-it's my parents…they're looking forward to me coming home this summer. They say they're sorry,' she said, the surprise evident in her voice.

Angelina, Alicia, Patty, Kenny, Katie, and Lee were confused, not knowing of Evey's relationship with her parents; Fred and George however, were very happy for their friend.

'Evey, that's fantastic!' Fred said, leaping over the table to hug his friend.

'We're so happy for you!' George said, also embracing Evey.

'Th-thank you,' Evey said, a smile slowing spreading across her face.

Her parents had done a total one-eighty, and regardless of the reason, she was thrilled.

The next week passed agonizingly slowly but finally, Evey was sitting on the Hogwarts

Express, the small villages just on the outskirts of London whizzing by the window. The twins and Lee were talking in the background about that summer's Quidditch Cup, but she was too excited to pay much attention. Finally, the train pulled into King's Cross. Evey leapt to her feet and started to frantically gather her things.

'Calm down, Evey.'

'Yea, they won't leave without you.'

'I know that,' she responded to the twins as she pulled her knapsack securely onto her shoulders, 'but I'm excited to see them!'

'Well, have fun this summer.'

'And don't forget to write!'

'Never! Bye!' she shouted as she ran out into the hall.

She ran down the car to the exit and hopped onto the platform and, dragging her heavy trunk behind her, weaved through the many magical parents waiting for their children, heading towards the barrier that separated this platform from the rest of the station. When she finally got through, Evey's green eyes scanned the crowd looking for her driver, and she was shocked to see her parents standing nearby, checking their watches.

'Mother! Father!' she yelled happily as she rushed over towards them.

'Charlene, darling!'

Evey didn't even care that her mother had used her first name, she was just so happy to see them and to receive the unusually warm greeting. She dropped her things (including Dorothy's case, much to the cat's displeasure) and was embraced by both her parents. She couldn't help the tears of joy that fell down her cheeks--she finally had the parents she'd always wanted - loving and affectionate. Once they broke apart, her father loaded her things onto a trolley and the three began walking through the station towards where the car was waiting.

'So, how was your year darling?'

'Oh it was amazing, mother! I did really well on all my exams, and our house won the cup for the first time in YEARS!' she responded.

She didn't even care that her parents had absolutely know idea what "cup" she was speaking of; they were actually listening, and seemed interested.

'Wonderful, dear!' her father said with a smile.

She couldn't believe it--it was like everything she ever wanted from her parents was finally happening! She just knew it'd be the best summer ever.

'So,' her father said smiling at his only child as Lester pulled the car away from the kerb.

'I'm sure you're wondering what wonderful surprise your mother and I have in store for you.'

'Of course.'

Her parents smiled at each other before her father spoke again, 'Well, dear, you're going to spend the entire summer in Newport with your Aunt Georgina and Uncle John and your cousins Jacqueline and Robert!'

Evey sat in stunned silence--her parents were shipping her off to the States for the summer? What kind of wonderful surprise was this?!

'Wh-what?'

'Oh you'll have so much fun, darling!' her mother gushed. 'They just got a new stallion, and of course there's always the country club and their yacht.'

Evey stared back and forth between her parents, a look of total disbelief on her face. 'You're sending me away?!'

'Of course not, dear,' her father assured her with what she knew to be a fake smile, 'we just thought you'd like to visit Jacqueline…you two were always so close.'

'I haven't seen her since I was seven! Mother, father, you can't send me to the States! I-I promised to visit my friends this summer!'

'You mean those…those boys?' her mother practically hissed.

'You know very well, Charlene, that your mother and I don't like you befriending those boys; it just isn't right for a young lady to go gallivanting around with boys.'

'What is this, 1775?! I'm 16 years old--I can pick my own friends! This is why you're shipping me off, aren't you? To take me away from my friends?! How could you do this to me?!'

'We're doing what's best for you,' her father said strongly.

'No, you're doing whatever you want! Well I refuse to go--you can't make me.'

'You will get on that plane if I have to drag you on myself, do you understand me?' her father said in a voice so quiet and forceful it chilled her to the bone.

This was what she expected from her parents - the kind and attentive mother and father of a few minutes earlier were gone and in their place were the cold strangers she'd lived with for sixteen years.

Her green eyes filled with tears as she glared at her parents, 'I hate you…both of you.'

With that she turned away and watched the city of London pass by at top speed as they travelled towards Heathrow. This was going to a horrible summer.

Oh no! Poor Evey! Aren't her parents simply awful? I'll post again asap (which won't be tomorrow cause it's my boyfriends birthday and I'll be otherwise occupied ;-))...and remember reviews speed up the posting process :-)


	10. Evey's Summer Holiday

First off, I hate , because as I was getting ready to save this, it exited and my long pre - and post-story notes were all erased and I had to start over. Ok, onto better things.

Hello all! Sorry it took so long to post--I had about a million things going on and add that to the fact that this chapter wasn't even supposed to exist and then I got wicked writers block...well, you see where I'm going with this.

I'm so sorry I didn't respond to any reviews last time: if you post a review for this chapter I promise I'll respond :-)

One more thing before my standard A/N; as you may have noticed, I changed the rating on this story from "T" to "M". I did this for two reasons: 1) something that happens in this chapter, though not at all graphic, I felt warranted the change; and 2) It may be indicative of things to come in the future.

Enjoy!

A/N: If you recognize it, it's JKR's; if not, its mine :-)

* * *

Her parent's so-called "surprise" was just the tip of the iceberg that was Evey's miserable summer.

After a six hour flight (first class because her parents would not accept anything less than the best), her American relatives met her at the airport in Providence. Her uncle John was a handsome man with movie star looks - wavy, blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes set in a face with amazing bone structure, perfect tan tinting his skin and gleaming white teeth. Good looks were offset by his shallow and materialistic nature. Her aunt, Georgina, had the same colouring as her brother, Evey's father, but her features were much softer.

Georgina and John had met years ago at a country club in Newport while Georgina's father was in the States visiting with a business associate; just like Evey's parents, it was more a marriage of obligation than anything else. Though unlike Evey's parents, they were a bit warmer to Evey and their children, Robert (or as his parents called him, Robbie) and Jacqueline. Evey barely remembered them from her last visit so long ago, but it soon became abundantly clear that the siblings could not be any different.

Robbie, in short, gave Evey the creeps. He was only a year older than her, and would be entering his final year of prep school in the fall before his father bribed him into going to some Ivy League school. He was a little distant, giving Evey the obligatory ice cold hug (prompted by his mother) at the airport when she first arrived. This didn't bother Evey -- her parent's weren't exactly warm -- but there was something…odd about Robbie and the way his narrow eyes followed her.

It didn't take long for Evey to realize that Jacquie (as she insisted on being called) was a total free spirit, going against her parents' views on traditional when it came to...well, everything. She was the same height as Evey--both girls just barely reaching 5'2"--though Jacquie was much skinnier. Her hair, which Evey remembered to be brown like her mother's when she was younger, was now a mix of brown, black, and platinum blonde, all of which was obviously from a bottle rather than nature. Jacquie's nails were always painted black, she wore heavy eyeliner and, Evey discovered later, she had a total of fourteen piercings and three tattoos. She also bucked the family tradition of lukewarm greetings by hugging Evey hard and chatting incessantly as they collected her bags and left the airport.

Jacquie's room at the family's beautiful Newport home was covered in posters of bands Evey had never even heard of, the walls behind those posters a very watery black colour over what looked at one time to be pink wallpaper. The room itself was a mess, clothes strewn about over every surface, Jacquie just stepping over the clutter without so much as a second glance. Music was always blasting from the stereo-system in the corner, music with fast playing instruments and singers who sounded more like they were screaming than singing. Jacquie was a constant source of irritation to her father who couldn't tolerate the mess and she turned a deaf ear to her mother's constant pleas for her to "just tidy up a bit". Jacquie was nothing like Evey or the ideal girl that her parents wanted her to be, and Evey loved it.

Her cousin wasn't shy about expressing her opinions - including the view that Evey was too prim and proper and in desperate need of a makeover. Still furious at her parents for shipping her off, Evey readily and excitedly agreed, her only stipulation that Jacquie leave her dark red locks alone. The deal was made and the very next day, Evey's transformation began.

Jacquie started with her wardrobe, saying it looked like all of Evey's clothes were picked out for her by her mother. Evey laughed it off and didn't bother to verbalize that it was very much true. Save a few favourite items, all of Evey's clothes were thrown away and the teenagers had a great time hunting through the Rhode Island and New York City stores and boutiques for new outfits. Her new ensembles consisted of mostly dark coloured clothing, all of which Evey thought to be scandalously tight fitting. At first she wasn't sure she'd be able to pull off wearing such risqué clothes, but after getting a lot of compliments from boys they passed while shopping her opinion changed.

As the summer wore on, she noticed that Robbie started appearing nearly everywhere she went; when she went into town to go shopping with Jacquie, when she went to the beach, when she was doing homework in her temporary bedroom. Evey started wondering whether Robbie was actually a wizard and apparating all over the place, but she had no other evidence to support or disprove that particular theory so she let it go.

Between all the shopping trips, Jacquie and Evey found time to go to the beach. They swam mostly, and Jacquie tried teaching Evey to surf, but after falling off her board for the twentieth time, she decided surfing wasn't for her and spent her time laying on the sand. All this time in the sun was giving Evey a slight bronze tint to her pale skin--not to mention at least a hundred new freckles--as well as natural blonde highlights in her wine red hair.

And then there was the running. Jacquie loved to take early morning runs through her large, upscale neighbourhood, and forced Evey to tag along. At first she could barely keep up with her fit cousin, becoming short of breath after just a few minutes and her muscles protested for hours afterwards. But as the days and weeks passed, her muscles grew stronger, her tolerance became greater, and soon she was out running Jacquie, passing her while making friendly taunts about her speed.

Of course, in Jacquie's eyes, Evey's makeover couldn't and wouldn't be complete without putting some extra holes in her body. When she first brought this up to Evey, it made her remember the fit her father had when she was ten and asked to get her ears pierced. Her father insisted that only tramps and other miscreants would mutilate their bodies by piercing holes in them. Regardless, Evey did get her ears pierced, her mother arguing that a proper young lady needed to wear earrings. It was the only nice thing her mother had ever done for her, even going as far as taking her to a very high-class jewellery store herself and holding her hand as the small diamond studs were pushed through her earlobes. Evey remembered that it had hurt, but it wasn't intolerable. So, when she walked away from the piercing store with an extra ear piercing (two sets of holes in each ear now), a stud through the upper cartilage of her left ear and a navel ring, she smirked to herself as she imagined her uptight father's reaction to the 'mutilation' of her body.

Halfway through the summer, things took a disturbing turn. Robbie still seemed to be everywhere, but now instead of just being on the sidelines, he was uncomfortably close. On more than one occasion he offered to put sun-tan lotion on her back when they all went to the beach, and each time he had a strange glint in his eyes that sent a cold shiver down Evey's spine. Jacquie would always save her and dismiss her brother with a wave of her hand before helping Evey herself.

Shortly after those incidents started, the scariest one of all occurred. She was taking a break from her homework, reading a book in the library when Robbie appeared out of nowhere - suddenly right at her side.

'Good afternoon, Evelyn,' he said with what she was sure he thought was a charismatic smile, but in reality, was just creepy.

'Robert,' she greeted politely, glancing up briefly before going back to her book.

Uninvited, he took the seat beside her, leaning in close over her shoulder.

'Whatcha reading?' he asked softly, his perfectly shaggy blonde hair falling into his bright green eyes.

'_The Wizard of Oz_,' she responded absentmindedly.

'Ah, a classic,' he said with a smile.

Evey just nodded and continued reading.

After a few minutes, Robbie spoke again. 'What do you think Baum was trying to get across to his readers when he wrote this?'

The intellectual question surprised Evey and she looked up at her cousin, jumping a bit when she noticed how close he was.

'Oh,' she stuttered, 'um, I think he was saying that even though you may want to escape sometimes, home will always be there for you to come back to. '

Robbie nodded as he stared down at the book in her hands. After a pause, he looked back up to her.

'What I think he was trying to get across,' he said quietly, 'is that when there are things you want so badly you can feel them in your bones, if you work hard enough, you can get them in the end.'

Evey didn't realize Robbie was slowly moving closer to her until his perfect nose brushed hers. She gasped and a tremor shook her. But Robbie mistook that shudder of fear for something else entirely and before she knew it, his slobbery lips were crushing hers. She screamed, the sound not entirely muffled by his greedy mouth and pushed him away as hard as she could. To her shock, her shove sent him flying out of his chair, across the room, and into one of the bookcases, his head hitting the solid wood hard.

Evey started hyperventilating; what had just happened?! Not only had her cousin--her FIRST cousin--kissed her but she'd used accidental magic to push him away?! She didn't even realize that she had started to cry until a sob escaped her throat. Seconds later, Jacquie was running though the door, drawn by Evey's scream.

'Eve, what is it? What's wrong?' her cousin asked as she kneeled at Evey's side, her dark brown eyes wide with concern.

She shook her head, unable to speak through her sobs and just pointed weakly to where Robbie lay unconscious. Jacquie looked back and forth between her brother and cousin quickly, her shoulder-length, multi-hued tresses flying around her face. After a moment, her chocolate eyes darkened further with anger.

'Evelyn,' she said quietly, her jaw very obviously clenched, 'did my brother try something with you?'

Evelyn took a few heaving breaths, trying to calm herself down before whispering, 'Yes.'

What happened next was a blur to Evey, who'd locked herself in her room as Jacquie reported what had happened to her parents. Her cousin told her later that night that Robbie was gone -- sent back to school a month early and his inheritance cut in half as punishment.

Evey was in shock for days, still unable to believe her cousin was such a sleaze and that she'd done wandless magic. Eventually, Jacquie was sick of her feeling sorry for herself and dragged her into town, supposedly for another shopping trip but she had a secret agenda.

They were casually strolling through the more family-oriented part of Newport, looking at the stores, when Evey heard something that made her newly pierced ears perk up.

'Oh I know! I heard everyone at the World Cup was in danger!'

Evey stopped dead in her tracks. The World cup? Did they mean the Quidditch World Cup? She wished now more than ever she had a wizarding newspaper, or that she was at least in contact with someone from school. But her American relatives were Muggles, so she had been left in the dark. She had to know what was going on.

'Eve? You ok?'

She turned towards Jacquie who was standing a few feet in front of her, suddenly realizing that her feet had stopped moving.

'Oh, er, yeah, I just, um, I just thought we could go to the surf shop and get new bathing suits,' Evey quickly suggested, wanting to follow the person who made the World Cup comment and knowing the surf shop was in that direction.

Jacquie's expressive brown eyes lit up, 'Awesome! You have the best ideas, Eve! Ok, let's go!'

With that Jacquie began to speed walk in the opposite direction, Evey easily keeping up as she strained to hear for any other news about the World Cup. She was more worried than she had ever been in all her life. Didn't Fred and George mention to Lee on the train that their father was trying to get them all tickets? What if something happened to them?

'_No!_' Evey shook her head lightly, refusing to think of all the things that could've possibly happened to her best mates.

After a minute, and ignoring whatever the hell Jacquie was prattling on about, Evey was able to pick up on the World Cup conversation again, coming from the two teenage boys about fifteen feet ahead of them.

'...heard it was some crazy Pureblood group. Remember what happened over there in the eighties? That crazy guy killing a bunch of people and then getting blown up by a toddler?'

'That guy? I thought he was dead!'

'Well, yeah, but, like, I think it was his followers.'

'Man, that sucks!'

'I know, I know.'

'Anybody die?'

Evey held her breath, mentally preparing for the worst as the other boy took a minute to respond.

'No, I don't think so,' he said, and Evey let out a huge sigh of relief. 'I think some Muggles got all bruised up, but nothing serious...'

Evey tuned out the rest of the conversation -- chatter about some attractive girls the boys had seen earlier in the day.

No one was killed in the attack! Thank Merlin! But then a sneaky doubt crept into her brain - what if the boy was wrong about no one being hurt? What if the twins... ?

'_No!_' Evey shook herself again, trying to rid herself of the thoughts.

'Eve? Did you hear me?'

She turned to her cousin, unsure of what she had said, just responding with a polite, 'Of course, Jacquie.'

'So, whadda you say? Wanna go to Vinny's?'

Evey remembered that Vinny was the large burly man who had pierced her and, thinking Jacquie wanted her to get another piercing of some sort, happily agreed, much to her cousin's delight. She practically dragged Evey to the shop at the other end of town, and it wasn't until they got inside that Evey realized what was about to happen.

'Ok, Eve, pick one.'

When Evey noticed Jacquie was gesturing to the wall covered in pictures of various tattoos, she audibly gulped. A tattoo?! A piercing was one thing, but a tattoo?! She wasn't sure she could get one of those -- the piercing had hurt like hell. Just to temporarily appease her cousin, she let her eyes wander over pictures of bare-breasted women and hideous tribal designs…and then she saw it; a picture of a small green tree frog. The image immediately brought back memories of her first prank with the twins, the prank that had bonded them. The memories conjured by that tiny picture made Evey smile, and three hours later, she was walking out of the store with a frog tattooed on her left hip.

As interesting, amusing, disturbing and life-changing as her summer in Rhode Island was, after worrying over her school mates fate for the last four weeks, she decided that nothing--not even her parents--could make her leave England, or her friends, again.

And there you have it--Evey's crazy summer holidays! Hope you all enjoyed it! In case you couldn't tell, the scene with Robbie is why I changed the rating. Tell me what you think about this chapter--I'm dying to know! And if you all be good little readers and review, you may ask one question about anything and I will answer it no matter what. (I think that's a pretty good incentive to post a review don't you?) Thanks everyone!


	11. Reunited

I'm sorry I made you all wait so long--work has been so crazy and then this chapter wasn't even supposed to be a chapter by itself but I decided to make it so. I dunno what's going on in my mind lately, lol. Anyway, for all of those who have been patiently waiting for the real story to begin, this is it!

Many many thanks to everyone who has reviewed and added this story as a favorite/added me as a favorite/put an alert on this story. It means so much to me that you're enjoying yourself.

Before I begin, I of course must do my standard A/N, but this time a friend of mine has hacked onto my computer an has decided to do it for me. (sigh) Say hello, Evey.

Evey: Hello, Evey!

You've been hanging with Fred and George too much. Will you PLEASE get on with it so the nice readers can get to the chapter?

Evey: Oh, alright. PopstarJ01 owns me and my family; everyone else belongs to JKR.

Thank you Evey, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter!

On the first of September, Evey was rushing through King's Cross Station, her luggage and Dorothy's case on a trolley she was dragging behind her; it was ten minutes to eleven and she didn't want to miss the train. She had arrived back in England on the red eye just hours before the Hogwarts Express was to depart and grabbed a black cab from the airport to the station. She had been in a rush but even if she'd had time, she wouldn't have even considered stopping by her parents home first. They had sent her away to spend the summer with lukewarm relatives who either largely ignored her (in the case of her aunt and uncle) or assaulted her (bloody Robbie). Jacquie had been the only good part of the summer vacation and as glad as she was that it was over, she'd miss her cousin.

She rushed through the brick barrier and emerged onto Platform 9 ¾ with just minutes to spare. Her head whipped back and forth, frantically searching for her friends as she walked the length of the platform. Despite overhearing that no one had been hurt at the World Cup, she was still incredibly worried about them, especially the twins. She hadn't had any sort of contact with anyone over the summer--they didn't even know she had left the country! Unable to see the familiar red heads, she boarded the train, hoping that they were already sitting in a compartment. She struggled through the narrow hall, watching out for her friend's faces without any luck, and finally settled into an empty compartment towards the back of the express. She put her knapsack and Dorothy's carry case on the bench seat then struggled to manoeuvre her trunk onto the luggage rack. The train jerked and began to move just as she got the heavy trunk off the floor.

'What do you suppose Mum and Bill and Charlie were going on about?' Fred questioned as he and George searched the compartments for somewhere to sit.

'No idea,' George responded absently. 'But I don't give a Hippogriff's arse, to be honest.'

Fred took a deep breath, trying to keep his patience (which was already wearing thin). 'George, don't worry, she'll be here.'

'Seventy five days, Fred. Not a word for seventy five days!' George practically shouted as he sped through the corridor. 'I knew that letter from her parents was suspicious. What if they took her away? What if we never see her again? What if she's dead?'

Fred stopped and turned to his brother, grasping his shoulders and shaking him. 'George, calm down, you're overreacting. She'll be here; alive. Trust me.'

George took a deep shuddering breath and slowly nodded, running a hand through his shaggy ginger hair, 'You're right. Its just after what happened last year-'

'I know--I'm worried too. But you know Evey--she's stubborn to a fault, nothing could keep her away from here.'

George chuckled, 'Right you are, twin, right you are.'

The twins picked up their trunks and started down the train once more. They couldn't see their friend anywhere, which worried them to no end, but as they reached the back of the train they were…distracted by an unfamiliar sight. Inside an otherwise empty compartment was possibly the hottest girl they'd ever seen at Hogwarts. She was struggling to get her trunk up into the luggage rack, her raised arms accentuating every one of those impressive curves. Her denim skirt barely reached the middle of her sculpted thighs, showing off nice legs and as her t-shirt crept up, the boys saw a strip of beautifully bronzed skin. The girl's hair fell in wine red waves down her back, ending just beneath her shoulder blades. The twins glanced at each other and smirked as Fred slid the door open, letting out a long, low whistle.

'Bloody hell! The scenery this year is much better than previous years, wouldn't you say?'

'I must agree,' George responded, a little less enthusiastically than his brother; his mind still with Evey. 'Say, love, would you like two, strong, handsome blokes to help you with that heavy trunk?'

* * *

Evey had finally managed to get one edge of her trunk onto the luggage rack and she began to wiggle it back towards the wall so it was secure. As she did so, she heard the compartment door slide open, followed by a long, low whistle.

'Bloody hell,' Evey heard a very familiar voice stage whisper. 'The scenery this year is much better than previous years, wouldn't you say?'

'I must agree,' a voice identical to the first responded. 'Say, love, would you like two, strong, handsome blokes to help you with that heavy trunk?'

Evey bit back a smile as she finished adjusting her trunk. Lowering her arms, she quickly turned towards the door. 'I don't see any strong or handsome blokes in this compartment.'

'BLOODY HELL!' the twins exclaimed in unison, their jaws dropping and their eyes widening.

'Evey? Is it really you?' Fred asked, recovering from shock first.

Evey rolled her eyes. She_ had_ changed over the summer, but she didn't think the differences were that drastic. The twins, however, would beg to differ. Gone was the little girl in pigtails that they had met at King's Cross five years ago. While they'd always been aware that she was a girl, suddenly the fact was smacking them right in the face. Whatever she'd done over the summer had obviously agreed with her - their best mate was now a total babe.

'Wh-what--where?' George mumbled incoherently but Evey ignored his stuttering and rushed to hug the twins.

'Do you have any idea how worried I was about the two of you? Thousands of miles away and not sure whether my best mates were alive or not!'

'We-we're fine,' Fred answered as he and George returned Evey's embrace awkwardly.

She stepped away and smiled up at them. When did they get so tall? They had always been taller than her, but they had to have grown a couple of inches over the summer.

She smiled, 'Well, now that I know you're not dead, tell me EVERYTHING that happened at the World Cup--I know absolutely nothing!'

She sat on one of the benches, crossing her legs. The hem of her skirt rose a bit and the twins averted their eyes, still uncomfortable thinking of Evey as a girl; a really hot girl.

Suddenly, George remembered how worried he'd been just minutes ago.

'Where the bloody hell were you!' he almost yelled at his friend as he stood over her, arms crossed. 'Two and a half months! I--we didn't know where you were! No letter, no visit. Do you have any idea how worried we were?!'

Evey was a little taken aback by his anger and glanced over at Fred. He was concerned as well but not as upset as George appeared to be.

She gulped. 'I'm sorry,' she said, lowering her eyes to her hands, pretending to examine her black nails as she tried to hide her distress. 'My--my parents tricked me. When I got off the train, they were so nice, nicer than they've ever been, and I thought they'd finally changed, you know? I was so happy but then in the car they told me they were sending me to visit my cousins in…in America. I tried to get out of it, really I did, but nothing I did worked. My relatives in the States are Muggles, so I couldn't write you. I am so, so sorry.'

By the end of her explanation, Evey was almost in tears, taking a few deep, shuddering breaths to calm herself. Fred and George's stances had relaxed completely and they looked guilty for making their friend feel bad.

'Evey,' George said as he sat beside her and gathered her up in his arms. 'We're sorry.'

'Yea,' Fred agreed, sitting on Evey's other side and reaching out for her hand. 'We had no idea. We didn't mean to sound cross.'

Evey sniffed, wiping the unshed tears from her eyes, 'No worries, you didn't know.'

'So how was it? Was it absolutely horrible without us there?' George asked with a smile.

Evey laughed, music to the twins' ears. 'It wasn't completely horrible,' she said, having already decided that Robbie was NOT something she wanted to discuss with the twins. 'My cousin Jacquie had quite a fun time giving me a make-over as you can see.'

'And a wonderful job she did,' George muttered, but Evey heard and a sly grin crept across face as she turned pink under her tan.

'George Fabien! Are you ogling me?' she teased and George's face flared.

'I can't help it, Evey--I'm a sixteen year old boy, what do you expect?'

Evey laughed again, and this time, the twins laughed with her.

'Seriously though, Jacquie had a marvellous time,' Evey continued. 'Obviously, she changed my hair, and my clothes, and made me sit in the sun every day. She also made me go jogging with her which was ghastly as first but I quite enjoy it now. Then, there was Vinny's.'

Fred and George's eyes narrowed and their posture grew stiff as George practically hissed, '_Who_ is Vinny?'

'Oh you two are absolutely ridiculous, I swear,' Evey said, rolling her eyes. 'Vinny is a friend of Jacquie's who specialized in…body modification.'

That got the twins' attention. They sat bolt upright, their brown eyes wide as they looked at their friend.

George gulped, his eyes wandering over her body. 'What kind of…modification?'

Evey blushed and avoided eye contact, 'Oh just a few piercings--'

'Where?' Fred interrupted.

Evey tucked her hair behind her ears, revealing her three new ear piercings and the boys winced. 'Didn't those hurt?'

'Not nearly as much as this one,' she said, arching against the seat and pulling her shirt up a little to reveal her navel ring.

Fred looked shocked, and George's eyes widened as he briefly glanced at the ring before he took in the expanse of tanned flesh. He blinked when he realised what he was doing, trying to focus on anything but the way that skin was making him drool.

Evey pulled her shirt back down. 'Jacquie wanted me to get some more piercings but I told her that I was done after she forced me to get a tattoo.'

'A WHAT?!' the twins exclaimed as they leapt to their feet.

Evey laughed, 'You guys are being so silly. Its not a big deal, honestly.'

'Can we see it?'

'George!'

'What? I just want to see it, Fred.' He looked at her and his face reddened again. 'Unless it's somewhere…you know…private…'

Evey laughed, 'Its ok. Let me just get some sweat pants on. This skirt is bloody uncomfortable.'

She reached into her knapsack and pulled out the sweat pants she'd packed. She toed off her shoes off before slipping the sweats over her legs and under her skirt, which she then took off and put in her bag.

The twins had turned away to give Evey privacy when it became obvious she was going to change right there. Well, Fred turned but had to nudge George to remind him that he should look away. Fred had been noticing George's odd behaviour when it came to Evey since her accident last Halloween, but brushed it off as concern for their friend. But now, seeing how his brother's eyes had lingered over Evey's body today and how his face had flushed when she pulled her shirt up, he knew he'd have to confront his brother soon about what appeared to be a growing crush on their friend.

'Ok,' Evey said when she was finished changing and the twins turned back, taking their seats beside her once more.

'Now be honest and tell me what you think,' she said, twisting slightly and pulling her sweats down to reveal the small green and brown tree frog.

There was a moments silence then Fred exclaimed, 'That's brilliant!'

'Really? You like it?' Evey asked as she pulled her sweats up again.

'Absolutely,' Fred said, glancing over at George quickly and hoping Evey didn't notice the dazed look on his twin's face.

Evey smiled and looked to George, who was still staring at her hip where the tattoo was now hidden but, when he realised she was watching, he quickly looked up to his friend's light green eyes.

'George? What do you think?' she asked nervously.

'_Why do I care so much more about what he thinks_?' she wondered briefly.

He thought for a moment, then smiled, 'I think…that it reminds me of our first prank.'

Evey's eyes lit up, pleased that he had immediately made the same associations that she had. 'Yes! That's why I got it! So you like it then?'

'Absolutely,' George said with a smile.

Evey smiled widely and jumped up to hug each of the boys before demanding they tell her what had happened at the World Cup.

Yay! There's chapter 11. I hope you all enjoyed this. I'd really like to know what you think...it only takes a minute...please?!

Evey: Just do it; you have no idea how bloody annoying she is when she's like this.

Evey, would you like it if I sent you back to the States?

Evey: No!

Then be quiet.

Evey: Ok...

Sorry about her everyone, please review; it may make me post the next very insightful chapter sooner :-)


	12. Innerworkings of a Twin

Sorry sorry sorry! I know its been a LONG time since I last posted--this was another chapter that wasn't meant to be, and then I had writers block and I was always at work and when I finally wrote it I hated it at first and re-did it and blah lol. But here it is, chapter twelve!

Before I start I want to do something I haven't done before but think I should since I've been lax about it lately; I'm gonna respond to reviews right here (and if I already responded to your review, here's another one for ya!). Shall we begin?

Queen-of-Darkness101: I'm glad you liked the last chapter and sorry I didn't update as quick as I planned to lol

cascade88 and remuslives23: You both know my reviews since I talk to you so often so I'll just give ya'll a shout out and tell you guys thanks for everything!

PunkRock-Remedy: I'm glad you like how I portray the twins, and I will try to keep up the "awesomeness" lol. Thanks!

katiee80: Glad you love it! Here's the update!

Lakis: So happy you love the story! And yes, I love Evey too (also not in the les way, lol)--I've gotten very close to her as I've been writing and for where this story is going that love is going to be tested (a little tease for ya, but no more hints!)

Hippy flowerchild: So happy you enjoyed the story, hope you like this chappie!

butherecomesthefall: Crush? What crush? I see no crush (shifty eyes)

And now for my anonymous reviewers:

Frankie's Chains: So glad you like the story, here is some more!

alisonrocks08: As for Evey's new look, some things will stay and some will go. No, Fabien is not George's official middle name (as in JKR never said it was) but in all the stories I've written about the twins (and there are a lot lol) George is always George Fabian and Fred is always Fred Gideon, a little tribute to their fallen uncles.

Thank you everyone for your reviews! So now, since I have successfully hidden Evey (who I'm sure would love to read this chapter) we can begin.

Standard A/N: Everything you see that you recognize is JKR's, everything else is mine. Also, I use a direct quote from the book in this chapter (something that will be coming a frequent occurrence in chapters to come) and have appropriately cited it at the end.

Enjoy!

Later that same night, Fred sat in his bed--the curtains pulled shut and his wand illuminating the small space--waiting for his roommates to fall asleep. Everyone was excited over Dumbledore's announcement that a Triwizard Tournament would be held at Hogwarts later in the year but the excitement had been tinged with anger with the revelation that anyone under seventeen was not eligible to enter. He and George had complained loudly and continuously to anyone within hearing range ('We're seventeen in April, why can't we have a shot?'), but they had both concocted a plan and with that, their anger had faded somewhat. Now that he allowed his mind to wander, he remembered that he'd wanted to talk to his brother about his odd behaviour on the train today and was now waiting to have the discussion in private.

_As the three friends had sat on the train earlier that day, the boys regaling Evey with their elaborated adventure at the World Cup, Fred couldn't help but notice the dazed look and silly grin on his twin's face. George had been unusually touchy-feely with her; the twins had never been shy when it came to hugs or hand-holding with their female friend, but there had never been an undercurrent of something else, something a bit more intense like there had been today. George had almost clung to her slightly desperately, as if he was afraid she'd disappear but there had been a gentleness, a tenderness that definitely spoke of more than friendly feelings. _

_When Evey left the compartment to change into her uniform, Fred planned to ask George if he was alright; but his brother had immediately launched into a one-sided conversation about how happy he was that Evey was alright as they changed into their own robes. As they finished knotting their ties, the door slid open and Evey re-entered the carriage. Even Fred had to admit he couldn't recall the bland school uniform looking so good on anyone before and, when he glanced over at his twin, saw that George was openly and unashamedly gaping at the girl. Before Evey could notice George was practically drooling over her, Fred subtly yet strongly elbowed his twin in the ribs, successfully wiping the goofy expression off his face. _

_That sealed it--he'd talk to George tonight. _

Now, when he heard Kenny stop tossing in his bed and Lee's loud snores started to shake the windows, he snuck out of his bed and into his brother's. Closing the curtains behind him, he put a silencing spell around the bed, then looked down at George who was splayed out on his stomach, his blanket tangled in his legs as he snored softly.

'George,' he whispered, poking his brother in the ribs. When he didn't move, he poked him again.

'George, get up.'

George snorted and shifted in his sleep but still did not awake.

Fred heaved an exasperated sigh, shaking his brother. 'George, wake up! Bagman's here to give us our winnings.'

George swatted at his brother as if he were an annoying fly but his eyes remained firmly closed.

'Zonko signed over the deed to his shop to us.'

Soft snoring was the only reply as George turned onto his back.

Fred tried once more. 'Is that Evey in a swimsuit?'

'Where?!' George practically shouted as he sprang up, his head colliding with Fred's.

'OW! What'd ya do that for?'

'Me? You're the one that jumped up like someone sent a stinging hex to your bollocks!'

George simply glared at his twin as he rubbed his forehead, his back against his headboard and his legs crossed.

'Do you know how long I've been trying to wake you…?'

'Why were you trying to wake me?'

'…Almost five minutes!' Fred exclaimed, ignoring George's interruption.

George shushed his twin, 'Will you be quiet?!'

'Oh since when do we care? Besides, I silenced the bed.'

'Ok, but why?'

Fred sighed, running a hand through his shaggy ginger hair as he mimicked his brother's position at the other end of the bed, 'Because I need to talk to you about something important.'

'The Tournament? Because I'm still thinking an Aging potion will--'

'No, this isn't about the Tournament.'

George furrowed his brow in confusion, 'What's more important than the Tournament?'

'Evey.'

Fred noticed that with that one softly spoken word, George seemed to stiffen.

'Oh,' George said, trying to sound casual but failing to deceive his twin, 'what about our dear Evelyn?'

'You've been acting weird around her.'

George scoffed but did not meet his brother's eye. 'Weird how?'

'Well, you didn't stop touching her from the time we met up on the train to when we said good night in the common room.'

George paused momentarily before answering, 'Well, I just missed her is all--and I was worried about her all summer.'

'That's another thing,' Fred immediately jumped in, ignoring his brother's blatant attempt to skirt the issue. 'You were really worried about her… overly worried. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was concerned about her too, but I wasn't as...moody as you.'

'I wasn't moody!'

'You sulked the entire summer!'

'I did not sulk!'

'George,' Fred said, the seriousness in his voice unmistakable. 'We don't hide anything from each other. Tell me what's going on. Please.'

George sighed, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning his head in his hands. He was silent for a full minute before he looked up at his twin to respond.

'I really don't know, to be honest,' he confessed.

'Well, what do you know?' Fred asked.

'I know that I was really scared this summer,' George began. 'I know that I care about what happens to Evey. I know that I could not stop touching her, no matter how hard I tried.'

'What about when you saw her in her uniform? You practically flooded the compartment with drool...'

'I couldn't help it,' George said, obviously becoming frustrated. 'She just looked so...so...amazing. I didn't know whether to cover her up so no one else could see, or...or...'

'Kiss her?' Fred suggested cheekily, a sly grin on his face.

'What?! K-Kiss her? Oh no. No, no, no, no...' George trailed off as he noticed the unbelieving look on Fred's face.

He sighed heavily and lowered his eyes. 'Yes,' he confessed quietly. 'I don't know why or where it came from but all I wanted to do when I saw her in her uniform--hell, since we realized it was her in the first place--was kiss her.'

'Do you fancy her?' Fred asked bluntly.

'I don't really know. I mean, it's Evey for Merlin's sake! I can't...I can't fancy her. Bloody hell, we've known her for years--she's our best friend, like another sister!' George paused, taking a shuddering breath. 'But...'

'You fancy her, don't you?'

'Merlin help me, I do.'

After George's confession, the twins spent an hour discussing what George should do, ultimately deciding that, for now, he wouldn't do anything.

'You can't just walk up to her and start snogging her, can you? You know Evey, she won't appreciate that,' Fred argued. 'Remember when that bloke from Ravenclaw tried that with her fourth year?'

'Idiot thought he was being spontaneous and romantic,' George said, starting to laugh at the memory.

'Yea, instead he just wound up in the hospital wing with a broken nose, two black eyes, and a painful looking limp.'

The two boys laughed uproariously, recalling the incident. They had been at lunch, Evey and the other girls just walking in from a quick stop at the loo. Suddenly, Peter Wright got up from the Ravenclaw table, strode up to Evey, and kissed her right on the lips. It lasted all of three seconds before he was a crying heap on the floor and Evey was storming out the doors muttering curses under her breath.

Deciding he didn't want to suffer the same fate as poor Peter (who still couldn't come near Evey without flinching), George decided to play it cool for the time being and just let fate decide on the right moment for him to reveal his burgeoning feelings for his best friend.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling, USA version, chapter 12, pg 189

And there you have it, chapter 12! A little different from previous chapters but I felt it was important to see what Fred and George were up to. I hope you liked it, and I hope I didn't go too OOC with the twins. As an apology for posting sooo late, I allow you all to ask a question about anything in the story and I will answer to the best of my ability whilst trying to avoid spoilers. But, in order to do that, you have to review. I look forward to your reviews and questions! Until next time :-)


	13. Torsion de Français

Hello hello everyone! I (amazingly) had a chapter ready to go this time so I was able to get it out much sooner! That said, I do have some kinda bad news--this Friday, I'm going to Maine for five days, during which I will have no time to post. However, between all the family togetherness stuff I'll be doing, I'll be writing the next chapter in my head and typing it up when possible. Hope that makes up for the lack of posting that there will be :-)

Thanks again to all who took time to review; it really means a lot to me :-)

_**HUGE A/N**_: A decent sized portion is straight out of GOF (you'll all be able to tell) including some dialogue. To avoid getting sued (cause I am poor) I credit all you recognize to JKR and thank her for letting me borrow for the purpose of my measly fanfic.

Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Evey knew they were in for an interesting year when Dumbledore announced at the Welcoming Feast that the Triwizard Tournament was coming to Hogwarts, as were students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang - two foreign wizarding schools.

For the first two months of the school year, all anyone could talk about was the Tournament. Fred and George were furious, as they were told they could not enter the Tournament because they were too young ('By five months!' they often complained). They spent most of their time either up in their dorm or in the library, feverishly researching ways to age themselves so they could enter. Evey kept telling them it wouldn't work, but they were too stubborn to listen so she left them to it.

Finally, the big day arrived and the entire school assembled on the front steps and grounds of the castle, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.

'Aha!' Evey heard from the top of the steps after they all had been waiting ten minutes. She turned to see Dumbledore smiling as he stared straight out ahead of him.

'Unless I am very much mistaken, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!'

Everyone turned and scanned the horizon like mad, trying to see what Dumbledore was seeing. Finally Evey spotted an ever-growing dot over the top of the Forbidden Forest.

'There!' she yelled, pointing over the trees.

Everyone looked in the direction where she was pointing. Whatever it was, it was coming fast and it was damn big. Theories of what it might be were shouted back and forth (one first year even insisting it was a dragon), but all were proven wrong as a huge, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage the size of a small house got ever closer. Twelve massive winged palominos pulled it through the air and down to the ground, startling several students.

The door swung open and a boy (a very pretty boy, Evey noted) hopped out and pulled down a set of golden steps. Seconds later, an enormous woman stepped into sight. Evey was reminded of Hagrid's huge stature and wondered if this woman was part giant like they all thought Hagrid was.

After a quick, polite greeting from Dumbledore, the woman--whose name was Madame Maxime--waved her hand towards the carriage and Evey watched as at least a dozen ridiculously attractive boys and girls hopped out of the carriage.

One boy in particular caught her attention--six feet tall, with shaggy, dirty blonde hair and fair skin. She couldn't determine his eye colour in the dark, but somehow she just knew they'd be blue. The boy beside him said something in his ear and he laughed. Oh, what a laugh! It was like music to Evey's ears. He was absolutely gorgeous, and Evey found herself immediately smitten with him. She watched as if in a daze as he and his classmates walked inside behind their Headmistress.

Her eyes stayed glued to the spot where he disappeared, and her mind barely registered the fact that the Durmstrang students had arrived until Angie elbowed her in the side.

'Ow!' she yelped as she turned towards her friend, rubbing her very sore ribs. 'What the bloody hell was that for?'

'Did you not see who just passed by?' she hissed. 'Krum! Viktor Krum!'

Evey whipped her head around to look for the Quidditch star, her ears finally registering the students hushed conversations. She caught sight of the back of his head as he entered the school, the Hogwarts students crowding in behind him. Angie, Alicia, Katie and Patty practically dragged Evey through the crowd to try to get to Krum, frantically searching their robe pockets as they walked.

'Oh I don't believe it!' Alicia whined. 'I haven't got a single quill on me!'

'D'you think he'd sign my hat in lipstick?' Patty asked no one in particular as she held her gray stocking hat in one hand and a tube of red lipstick in the other.

Evey rolled her eyes, 'You two are like children. Honestly!'

As her friends all tried to catch a glimpse of Krum during dinner, Evey's eyes searched the Ravenclaw table for a glimpse of that gorgeous French boy she had seen earlier, but she couldn't see him through the crowd. She groaned in frustration and tried unsuccessfully to focus on her dinner. This was gonna be a very long eight months.

To Evey's disappointment, her mystery boy was a seventh year and therefore he was in none of her classes. Every mealtime she craned her neck to look for him, but, from behind, all the beautiful French boys looked exactly the same. After a few weeks, she gave up trying to look for him. Her school work was suffering from her inattention and her friends were complaining about how distracted she was. Obviously, meeting her fantasy man wasn't meant to be.

One night, before curfew, Evey was in the library doing some homework; she usually did this in the common room, but after the whole disaster with Harry Potter - a fourth year - somehow getting chosen as a Triwizard Champion, things at Hogwarts (most notably in the Gryffindor common room) were tense. She was working on an assignment about Giant Wars for her worst subject, History of Magic. Her teacher, Binns, was unrelenting on the length of their homework, making students rewrite if their essay was even half an inch shorter than what he'd asked for but after two hours of writing, making the letters as big as she dared, Evey was still a good five inches short of the expected twenty four inches.

'Bloody hell!' she groaned as she threw her quill onto her table and dug the heels of her hands into her eyes.

Evey heard a light chuckle from behind her and whipped around so fast she almost flung herself out of her chair. And there he was--her mystery boy. It took all her strength not to swoon; he was even more handsome up close. And she had been right--his eyes were blue!

' 'aving trouble?' he said softly.

Evey was too shocked to speak so she just nodded.

'Weech subject?' he asked as he took the seat beside her.

'Oh, um, er, H-History of Magic--Giant Wars,' she said, trying not to stutter.

The boy's face widened with an amazing smile, 'Ah, yes, ze Giant Wars. Not exactly exciting, non? I 'ad thees assignment last year.'

All she could do was nod in response as she tried to get her brain to put together a coherent sentence.

He shook his head lightly, sending his shaggy hair flying. ' 'ow sillee of me--I have not introduced myself. Dax LeClerc.'

He held out his hand and Evey shook it, thinking how amazing his name was and how perfectly it fit him.

After shaking hands for a few moments, Dax laughed, 'Do you 'ave a name, too?'

'Oh!' Evey said, feeling her face flush with embarrassment. She was behaving like those silly little Third Years did when Viktor Krum was nearby.

'_Pull yourself together, girl_,' she told herself firmly.

'I'm sorry--I'm Evelyn Collins, but my friends call me Evey.'

'A pleasure to make your acquaintance, mademoiselle,' Dax said as he bent and kissed the back of Evey's hand.

The overwhelming urge to swoon was becoming stronger but she fought it back, finally thankful for all the deportment lessons her mother forced upon her as her social graces returned to her.

'So, Eevee,' Dax said as he gently released her hand, 'would you like some assistance on your essay?'

'Um, yes, I would, thank you,' she said, smiling widely.

Forty five minutes later, Evey measured her parchment carefully and was thrilled to find that, with Dax's help, she now had five inches more than she needed.

'Wow, Dax, thank you so much for your help!' she said, carefully rolling her parchment and placing it in her knapsack.

'Eet was my pleasure, Eevee,' Dax said in that sexy French brogue that sent shivers down Evey's spine.

'Alright, you two--ten minutes to curfew; time to leave,' Madam Pince said as she poked her head around a bookshelf.

The two students nodded and gathered their belongings, quickly leaving the library.

'She ees a bit…'ow do you say?…uptight, non?' Dax said as they strolled towards the stairs.

Evey laughed, 'Yes, she is, but after so many years, you get used to it.'

Dax chuckled and the two began to ascend the stairs. They spoke about the classes they were each taking as they waited for one of the staircases to swing in their direction. When they reached the top, he paused.

'Thees ees me,' he said, gesturing to the hall behind him.

'Oh, right. You're staying in the Eagles' Nest, right?'

'Ze what?'

'Eagles' Nest. Its what some of the older students call Ravenclaw Tower. We have nicknames for all the Houses here. Ravenclaw is the Eagles' Nest, Gryffindor is the Lions' Den, Slytherin is the Snakes' Pit, and Hufflepuff is the Badgers' Sett. This is what happens when we're bored in class,' Evey ended with a laugh.

Dax laughed, 'Eet ees indeed very clever.'

The laughter fizzled out and ended in an awkward silence. Evey felt an almost irresistible urge to run and hide in her dorm, but she stood her ground.

'So,' Dax finally said, 'Eef you need 'elp weeth your 'omework again, I would be 'appy to assist.'

'Oh, thank you,' Evey said.

'Well, bonne nuit, mademoiselle,' Dax said, bowing slightly, 'rêves plaisants.'

It was the second time tonight that Evey was grateful to her parents - this time for forcing her to take French lessons for five years.

'Bonne nuit à vous aussi bien, monsieur,' she said flawlessly, making Dax smile widely.

'Jusqu'à ce que nous nous réunissions encore,' he said, then turned and swaggered down the corridor and out of sight.

Evey waited until he couldn't hear his footsteps anymore then sprinted all the way back to the Gryffindor common room, where she found her usual crew sitting on the couches and talking.

'Well, look what the cat dragged in,' Fred said as Evey came into view.

Angie, who was beside him, sat straight up in her seat, her narrowed eyes trained on Evey. 'Something's happened. Spill.'

'I have no idea what you're talking about,' Evey said, attempting to act casual as she sat in the free spot beside George.

Alicia gasped. 'You're lying! You look like the cat that got the cream. You have to tell us!'

Evey sighed, and subtly looked at the Twins and Lee as she said 'There's nothing to tell.'

Angie and Alicia immediately caught on, quickly said something about being tired, then dragged Evey all the way up to the Sixth-Year dormitory.

'Now tell us!' Angie practically screamed as soon as the door latched shut.

'What is she telling us?' Patty said from her bed where she was studying.

'She has a secret! Something happened between the time she left for the library a few hours ago and now,' Alicia said as she forced Evey to sit on her bed and the others sat around her.

Evey had to bite back a laugh; Angie, Alicia, and Patty looked like kids on Christmas Eve! With a sigh, she told them all about what had transpired at the library. Alicia squealed when Evey told them about her and Dax saying "good night" to each other in French, and Angie had to cover her head with a pillow to quiet her down.

'You MUST ask him to go to Hogsmeade with you!' Angie said.

'What? No, he was just being friendly,' Evey said, brushing the suggestion off.

'Oh bullocks!'

'Angelina! Language! You've been spending way too much time with Fred,' Evey admonished as Alicia and Patty laughed.

And just like that, topic of conversation turned from Evey to Angie, a twist that Evey was quite happy about, although her own thoughts remained with Dax as she wondered when she'd see him again.

**French Translations (according to Babel Fish):**

**Well, good night, mademoiselle,' Dax said, bowing slightly, pleasant dreams.' **

**It was the first time Evey was ever grateful that her parents forced her to take French lessons for five years. **

**Good night to you, as well, monsieur,' she said flawlessly, making Dax smile widely. **

**Until we meet again,' he said, then turned and swaggered down the corridor and out off sight.**

Oooh! Hot French boy! And to those who haven't figured this out already, I'm going by the books, not the movies (which are truly fucking things up); yes, there were boys from Beauxbatons and girls from Durmstang. I suck at French (don't speak a word of it, in fact) so online translators did the job for me--hope it was ok. So, as an incentive to review, I offer those that do one hour with the character of your choice in the R.O.R. If you really want, I'll even write it for you (a oneshot of course)--just give me the info. Hope to hear from you all soon :-)


	14. Date

Hello everyone, I'm home from vacation! Sorry it took so long to get this out, but I promise once you read it you won't hate me anymore...well, at least when you get to the end :-)

Thanks to everyone who has been reading and who reviewed chapter thirteen--so glad everyone is enjoying this!

My standard A/N: If you recognize it, it's JKR's; if not, its mine.

Enjoy!

If Evey had thought things were bad at Hogwarts before, they became even worse when a month later, Professor Dumbledore announced that they were holding the Yule Ball during the Christmas holidays. The excitement level of the girls, already at an all time high due to the celebrity in their midst, reached a fever pitch as they ran about having constant panic attacks about not being invited to attend the ball. The boys had a similar frenzied reaction but this was due to the fact that they were now expected to ask someone to the dance…

Unlike her roommates, Evey had no desire to attend the ball, as it reminded her of the unbearable Christmas parties that her parents used to drag her to. However, if she were to go, she'd want Dax to be her date. Evey couldn't help but smile when she thought of him. Ever since the night he helped her with her essay (which she got an O on, by the way), they had spent several nights a week doing homework together in the library until curfew. Sometimes he'd help her with her assignments, sometimes they'd just do their respective work. Either way, they had so much fun together, frequently joking around and talking in French for hours before they realized what they were doing.

No, Evey did not want to attend the Yule Ball but if Dax asked her…well, she couldn't insult a guest, could she?

With just a week until the ball, Evey was in the library completing a Defence Against the Dark Arts essay Professor Moody had set for the holidays but she'd decided to finish up now, hating spending the free time studying, when two hands covered her eyes.

'Guess 'oo,' a familiar French drawl said.

'Hmm,' Evey said, pretending to think. 'Who do I know who has a heavy French accent and could possibly be here to bug me? Could it be…Dax?'

'You are no fun, Eevee,' Dax pouted as he lowered his hands and sat in the seat beside Evey.

Evey chuckled, 'Oh it was just a joke, Dax. Lighten up!'

Dax rolled his beautiful blue eyes as he chuckled, 'I weel never understand you Brits.'

'Probably not, no,' Evey said seriously before the two started laughing.

After a moment, Dax spoke, 'Eevee, I 'ave a question for you.'

Evey tried to look casual and relaxed, but inside she was a ball of nerves. Was he going to ask her to the ball?

'Sure, Dax,' she said, trying to hide her nerves, 'What's up?'

'Well,' he said as he lounged in the uncomfortable wooden chair, 'ze ball is next week and there is thees mademoiselle I want to ask. 'ow should I go about doeeng zat?'

'Oh,' Evey said, trying to figure out where he was going with this. 'Well, do you fancy her? Oh, er, font vous l'aiment ?'

'Oh, oui, very much,' Dax said, nodding.

'Well, perhaps giving her flowers would be nice. In front of people--perhaps in the Great Hall. And tell her how you feel and then say something like "would you do me the honour of accompanying me to the Yule Ball?" Girls love stuff like that.'

Dax mulled it over, then slowly nodded, 'Oui, I believe zat would work very well.' He stood, smiling widely. 'Merci beaucoup, mademoiselle. I weel see you later.'

'Bye,' Evey said, trying to maintain her composure.

When he was out of sight, she smiled widely. He was going to publicly ask her to the Yule Ball! How romantic! Too excited to concentrate any longer, she packed up her belongings and practically skipped back to the common room, trying to work out how she was going to respond to his invitation.

* * *

The next day, at every meal, she nervously kept an eye on the Ravenclaw table. She didn't tell anyone about what she and Dax discussed; she wanted everyone to be surprised. Besides it would be more romantic that way. Dax didn't do anything during breakfast or lunch. Evey told herself he was waiting until there would be more people around at dinner so he could ask her in front of everyone and let them know she was his.

So, she arrived in the Great Hall the moment they started serving dinner that night, and perched herself so she was facing the Ravenclaw table, and, consequently, the doors. Slowly, students trickled into the dining room, seating themselves then reaching for the food. By ten after six, it seems the whole castle was in the Great Hall…except for Dax.

She was starting to get antsy, squirming in her seat and picking at her dinner. Her friends didn't notice her anxiety -- the girls were happily chattering on about the ball and the boys were trying to talk about Quidditch and not get sucked into the discussion about dancing and dresses. Evey had her eyes on the door, waiting, barely hearing anything going on.

Finally, at twenty after six, one of the doors creaked open and a solitary figure slid gracefully into the room. Evey's eyes were glued to Dax as he swaggered into the hall, hand behind his back. Some other students had also noticed his late entrance, and had started whispering amongst themselves.

Dax's eyes suddenly caught Evey's, and he gave her a small smile. Evey smiled back, her body shaking with excitement and anticipation.

But her smile faded as Dax took an unexpected left and started walking along the space between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

Where was he going?

Talking in the hall had ceased, as all eyes were now on Dax. He stopped when he got halfway down the aisle and leaned down, whispering in a girl's ear.

A girl with curly, strawberry blonde hair.

A girl that wasn't Evey.

After a moment, Dax pulled something from behind his back--a bouquet of wildflowers. He presented them to the girl as he spoke and a minute later she was squealing with delight, leaping from her seat and embracing the handsome French boy. The Ravenclaw table burst into applause; the Slytherins snorted disdainfully and ignored the fuss; the Hufflepuffs smiled and returned to their dinner and previous conversations, and most of the Gryffindor table started hooting, hollering, and wolf-whistling as they stood on the benches.

All except one girl with wine-red hair who sat perfectly still, staring at her plate of barely touched food, tears threatening to spill from her sea green eyes.

When the ruckus finally died down and enough time had passed, Evey silently and swiftly left the Great Hall, and was in her bed in her dorm before her friends even noticed her disappearance.

* * *

For the next five days, Evey barely left the dorm. She slept late every day, her curtains sealed and silenced. She would only get up when the girls had left, shower, dress, then get back in bed to do homework or read her textbooks over and over again. She left the dorm once a day, for dinner, but she went late so she wouldn't risk running into Dax or Marietta Edgecombe. How could he want to take her to the ball? She was so…snobby! Completely stuck up and dumb as a rock to boot.

But who cares? Not Evey! No, the ball was a stupid waste of time; she'd just spend the night studying. Maybe she could check out that book on Animagus transformations she'd seen in the library a few weeks ago. She sighed as she walked down the stairs from her dorm, headed for a late dinner, and she was surprised when she saw the twins sitting on the over-stuffed couch, arms crossed, staring at her.

'What?' she asked as she paused at the bottom of the stairs, confused by their intent gazes.

The twins paused, looked at each other for a moment, then stood up simultaneously and charged at Evey, each hooking an arm under hers and lifting her off the ground.

'Hey! What do you think you're doing!' she complained as she kicked her legs and tried to wiggle out of their grasps.

But the twins stayed silent as they made their way up the boys' staircase and into their dorm, not letting her go until Fred had kicked the door shut and George locked it, also casting a Silencing spell on the room. Good thing, because Evey did not remain silent. She didn't stop fighting when they released her; turning on them and cursing loudly as she hit out at them.

'You bastards! What the bloody hell did you do that for?!'

The twins said nothing, and just let Evey get her frustration out. After a minute, she tired and her anger petered out. She suddenly felt completely drained and slumped to the ground.

'Are you done?' Fred finally said, looking down at Evey.

She silently nodded, and took their offered hands before they pulled her up off the ground. They moved over to George's bed and sat down either side of her.

'Something is wrong, Evey.'

'We know there is.'

'You've been acting strange for days now.'

'And we want to know why.'

Evey looked back and forth between Fred and George; she could see seriousness on their faces, and concern in their chocolate eyes. She sighed and looked down at her lap.

'I…I don't want to say. Its kind of a girly thing.'

'Well since you are a girl, I don't think that's a horrible thing,' George said gently.

'Come on, Evey,' Fred prodded. 'Tell us. Please?'

Evey looked up and groaned when she saw his face. 'No! Not the puppy dog eyes!'

George quickly caught on and mirrored his twin's pouty expression.

'Not the double! You know I can't stand that!' Evey said, falling backwards onto the mattress and covering her eyes with her arms.

'Pleeeeeease?' the twins said pathetically.

Evey groaned and flung her arms to the side, 'Fine! But no laughing!'

The twins crossed their hearts, something Evey had taught them years ago, promising they would not laugh.

Evey sighed, 'Well, it started a month ago. One of the French exchange students, Dax, came upon me struggling with a Binns essay, and he helped me out. He was really sweet. And then after that, we'd study together. I mean, true we didn't have the same homework, but we kind of helped each other.

'And then…then the other day he randomly asked me about how he could ask a girl he fancied to the ball. I don't know why but I thought…I thought he was talking about me. So I told him what to do, and he did it…for Marietta Edgecombe. So, there's me, sitting there feeling like a total moron. End of story.'

She stood and crossed the room, too embarrassed to be look at the twins right now. She could just imagine what they thought of her - she'd been presumptuous to assume Dax would ask her and now, she felt completely humiliated. It was true - pride did come before a fall. She felt tears well in her eyes, and surreptitiously wiped them away. A few moments later, she felt a pair of arms circle her waist and was pulled back against a warm body. She instinctively knew it was George; he smelled different than Fred and his arms around her always made her feel more safe and comforted than anyone else's did.

'He's a total wanker for not wanting to go with you, you know,' George said softly.

Evey shrugged, then sighed lightly as George turned her to face him, his arms still around her.

'I'm serious, you know,' he said. 'You're a great girl, and if that stupid Frog wants nothing to do with you, then it's his loss.'

Evey smiled a little, 'You're just saying that because you feel uncomfortable around me when I cry.'

George paused a moment, then nodded slowly, 'Well, yes, that's true. But I also mean what I said. I mean…I know if I had a chance to go to the ball with you, I would.'

Evey looked up at him, eyes wide, 'You what?'

George bit his lip as his cheeks (and ears) turned scarlet and he suddenly seemed to find his shoes fascinating. 'Well I…er…if you want to go to the ball still I would…you know…go with you.'

Evey blushed, 'You don't have to, you know.'

'It's ok, I want to. It would be fun, I think. And it wouldn't be a-a date if you don't want it to be. It could be as…you know…just one mate going with another,' George stuttered.

Evey smiled. 'Alright.'

George's face lit up, 'Brilliant! It'll be so much fun!'

He lifted a now giggling Evey off her feet in a huge hug, spinning her around before setting her back down again.

'I've got to go air out my dress-robes; they've been at the bottom of my trunk since I packed. I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow,' Evey said, a wide smile on her face, as she backed towards the door.

'Yea, sounds good,' George said before mumbling the spell to unlock the door. 'See ya then.'

Evey smiled again as she left, closing the door behind her. She was surprised about how excited she was and sighed happily as she practically skipped to her dorm.

So Evey and George have a non-date date! Hooray! I wonder what will happen...well, _I_know what'll happen, but you don't yet lol. If you love me, read and review and make me a happy author :-)


	15. Non Date

Hello all! Well, here's chapter fifteen--I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Just a quick alert--as of this chapter, I'm officially out of pre-written material. I will still try to get at least one chapter out a week, though, so never fear!

Much thanks to all my reviewers and of course HUMONGOUS THANKS to remuslives23 for being the best editor a fanfic writer could ever have.

Standard A/N: If you recognize it, its JKR's; if not, its mine :-)

* * *

Evey was surprised at how nervous she was the next night. She told Angie, Alicia, and Patty that she and George were going to the ball together ('Just as mates, though!') and the girls had wanted to 'doll her up'. She wasn't really comfortable with that girly kind of stuff so she politely declined…then quickly changed her mind when Alicia pulled her wand out and threatened to cast a Body Bind on her if she refused their help.

She had purchased her plum coloured robes in America after she saw them on the list of required items for the year. Her letter had been delivered in the dead of night and it was hard to sneak away from Jacquie long enough to purchase all the items she needed. She had wandered around Providence before finally finding a bookstore called 'Merlin's Manuscripts'.

She didn't hesitate to walk right in, going up to the clerk behind the counter, who was obviously a wizard as he was sorting a pile of books with his wand. Evey asked where she could find a dress-robes store, and the man--named Merlin Johnson, to her amusement--was very helpful and directed her to a small shop called Rosie's Remarkable Robes. The owner, Rosie, was a very helpful older witch who reminded Evey of Madam Malkin in appearance and attitude.

Evey supposed that the snug fit of the robe and low neckline was the current style in America but it was tighter fitting than the other girl's robes. The sleeves fit her arms snugly, belling out at her elbows, and the fabric skimmed over the curves of her body (when had she gotten curves?). The dress beneath the robes was the same plum colour with thin straps attached to the sweetheart neckline. There was an intricate strip of beading just below the bust-line that circled her petite frame. The silky fabric of the dress fell all the way to the floor in a perfect a-line shape, and you could just see her silver heels peeking out from underneath.

Angie insisted on styling her dark red hair into hundreds of curly ringlets that fell to the middle of her back, holding part of it back with a purple jeweled clip. Alicia applied very subtle makeup to Evey's heart shaped face; a little blush, some lilac eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick. When Evey looked into the mirror, her jaw dropped.

'What did you do?' she asked as she gently touched her hair and face.

'You look beautiful!' Angelina said as she adjusted her the straps of her sky blue dress robes.

'Yeah, George won't know what hit him!' Alicia laughed, smoothing the forest green fabric of her dress.

'Oh, please, he won't care,' Evey said, standing and trying to adjust to walking in heels.

'Of course he will,' Patty said from where she was checking the back of her butter-yellow dress. 'He fancies you. Didn't you know?'

Evey laughed so hard she had to sit down again. 'What? George doesn't fancy me! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!'

'I have to agree with Patty,' Angie said.

'Me too,' Alicia added.

Evey shook her head, rolling her eyes, 'You girls are totally nutters. I'm going to meet my FRIEND George.'

With that she carefully exited the dorm and descended the stairs to meet her date…friend! _Friend_…to meet her friend. Those girls were getting to her. She shook her head and continued to descend the stairs to the common room. When she reached the bottom, she saw George sitting on the couch with Fred, both wearing matching dress robes. They were so terribly adorable she couldn't help but laugh.

'Did Molly pick those out for you because you look absolutely ridiculous!'

The twins jumped to their feet and turned towards Evey--when they caught sight of her, their jaws dropped. Evey's eyes widened and she looked down at herself critically.

'What? Are my robes stained?' she asked as she assessed her outfit.

George audibly swallowed, and Fred elbowed him. George looked at his twin, who gave him a 'go on' kind of look. George's head whipped back towards Evey.

'N-no, Evey. You look…er…pretty,' George said awkwardly.

Evey stopped looking herself over and looked up at George. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt at the moment. She couldn't help but blush as she lowered her eyes again.

'Thank you, George,' she said politely. 'You look very…handsome.'

George muttered a quiet 'thank you' as the other girls started down the stairs, Angie in the lead.

Fred whistled low in appreciation, 'Angelina, my darling, you look absolutely spectacular!'

'Shut up, Fred,' Angie bit out, but she blushed nonetheless.

Fred simply smiled and bowed ridiculously low before offering his arm to his date. Angie rolled her eyes and took his arm, the small smile on her face telling Evey she was actually enjoying the dramatics of her escort. Slowly, Alicia and Patty were greeted by their dates (Lee and Kenny, respectively) and the students began to trickle out of the common room. George and Evey still stood awkwardly across from each other, avoiding eye contact as the portrait closed behind Patty and Kenny. George's eyes flicked to the nearby clock before he spoke, a loud noise in the silent room.

'Its gonna start soon, we should probably get going.'

Evey agreed and took his offered arm as they left the common room. The long walk to the Great Hall was silent and awkward between the two friends, the only sounds from other students around them. Their pace was slow--Evey was not very stable on her heels, especially going down the many staircases in the school. But George was patient and helpful, gripping her elbow if her foot slipped and never letting her stumble. Each time, Evey would smile at him, he smiled shyly in response, both of them flushing deeply. Eventually, they made it to the Great Hall--though they could not enter it due to the ever expanding crowd outside the doors.

'Fuck,' George groaned, speaking for the first time in ten minutes. 'Stupid tossers, just standing here blocking the door. Come on.'

With that, George grabbed Evey's small, smooth hand in his large, calloused one and started pulling her through the crowd. Evey couldn't help but look surprised; surprised at the fact that George just cursed for no good reason, surprised that he was actually dragging her, and surprised at the fluttering feeling in her stomach when George took her hand.

George had a similar feeling, but refused to let it get the best of him. Now was not the time to let Evey know he fancied her, not when they were on a strictly non-date date and she was getting over what was obviously a crush on that stupid Frog.

After a lot of 'Excuse me's' and shoulder bumps, the two finally made it into the Great Hall. Evey gasped; it was beautiful! It looked like an ice palace, the entire Hall coated in white, silver and blue, and…were those ICICLES?

'Wow,' she breathed, her green eyes wide as she scanned the room. 'It's beautiful!'

'Yeah, it sure is,' George answered, his eyes sliding over Evey before quickly returning to the Hall before him.

He quickly spotted Fred and the others and gently tugged Evey's hand to get her attention. The two made their way over to the round table and sat in the two free seats between Fred and Patty. The group of friends made small talk for a few minutes before the Procession of Champions began. They all stood to watch the four 'lucky' students walk into the Hall. Evey stood up on the balls of her feet and craned her neck, trying to look over everyone else's heads. Why did she have to be so bloody short! She groaned as she noticed the tall doors open, and heard people start 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing'.

'What's wrong?'

She looked to her right to see George looking down at her, confusion in his eyes.

'Oh,' she said, blushing slightly. 'I'm, er, too short to see--what are you doing?!'

'Helping you see, of course,' George said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world as he lifted Evey to stand on his chair. When he was sure she was stable, he smiled. 'Better?'

Evey couldn't help but return the smile, 'Yes. Thank you.'

George grinned wider as he turned back to watch the Procession, his left arm firmly around Evey's waist so she wouldn't fall. Evey looked towards the centre aisle that had formed and saw the French champion, Fleur Delacour, and her date, a very smug looking Roger Davies, gliding elegantly past, already halfway to the large table at the end of the Hall. Behind them were Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang, both smiling and stealing looks at each other, obviously smitten. After the lovebirds came a very uncomfortable looking Harry Potter and a smiling, bouncing, waving Parvati Patil.

'_Poor kid_,' Evey thought with a smile as she saw a blushing Harry, staring pointedly at his feet.

The last couple walked in and the doors closed. Viktor Krum looked as stony faced as ever, but who was the girl he was with?

'Bloody hell!' she heard Fred say to no one in particular. 'It's HERMIONE!'

Evey's eyes widened as she realized that it was, indeed, the clever fourth year. She looked absolutely stunning! She glanced over to where Fred and George's youngest brother, Ron, sat; not surprised the boy looked awed, smitten, and furious all at the same time. She hoped Fred and George wouldn't notice, if only to spare Ron's feelings.

The Champions finally reached the large table and took their seats, signaling for the rest of the students and the staff and guests to sit as well. George carefully helped Evey to the floor then they both sat and waited for food to appear as it usually did. After a minute in which nothing happened, she glanced at the head table to see if something was wrong. She saw Dumbledore's lips move then his plate was suddenly filled with food.

'Of course,' she said aloud. 'Self-Serving Plates! You say what you want and the food appears! How very clever.'

The others hesitated for just a moment before giving their orders then smiled in glee when their food appeared. Evey paused and thoughtfully looked down at her plate, not sure what she wanted.

'Aren't you hungry, Evey?' George asked as he paused between bites of his medium-rare T-bone steak.

She nodded. 'I'm not sure what to order.'

George shrugged and suggested, 'Just get your favourite.'

Evey thought for a moment longer before smiling broadly.

'Steamed Maine Lobster, cleaned and shelled with lemon and butter, a baked potato, and steamed carrots,' she said, and nearly squealed in delight when her order appeared.

She immediately dug in but after a few bites, noticed everyone at the table was staring at her.

'What?' she asked once she swallowed her mouthful of lobster.

'What exactly is that?' Lee asked bluntly.

'Lobster, of course. It's a type of shellfish very popular in America. Its delicious, would you like to try a bite?' she offered.

Each of her seven friends took a bite of her meal then spent a good five minutes figuring out a way to change their orders to lobster as well. After the scrumptious main course and very filling desert, Dumbledore requested that everyone stood and as soon as they obliged, the tables moved against the walls leaving the floor clear. He then turned to the right wall, and, after a complicated looking wave of his wand, a conjured raised platform appeared along with a set of drums, several brightly coloured guitars, a lute, a cello, and a set of bagpipes.

'Oh my god, it's the WEIRD SISTERS!' someone shouted as the band took their places, and the room was filled with cheers and applause.

The lights lowered and the Champions took their spots on the dance floor for the traditional opening dance. A slow tune started and the four couples began to twirl around the dance floor. They all looked very elegant, even Harry, who kept stumbling over his feet. After a few moments, Dumbledore started a polite round of applause then escorted Madam Maxime onto the dance floor, signalling the other students and teachers to join them.

Couples started congregating on the dance floor, and soon only a handful of students were on the sidelines, including George and Evey. It wasn't that they didn't know how to dance - Mrs. Weasley had taught her children and their friends traditional dances like this one; it was the awkwardness that kept them glued to the floor. Finally, George summoned up his famous Gryffindor courage and turned to Evey.

'You want to, er, dance?' he asked awkwardly, his face and ears redder than his hair.

'Oh, um, sure,' Evey agreed with a smile and a blush.

George took her hand and guided her carefully to a free spot on the edge of the dance floor. They turned to each other, hesitating for a moment before they took up the traditional dancing pose. Evey saw George mouthing numbers to the beat for a full count of eight before he started to lead her around the floor. They moved well together, never stumbling, never bumping into other couples--unlike poor little Ginny Weasley, who kept wincing as her date, Neville Longbottom, kept stepping on her toes.

Their eyes met a few times, each of them smiling then looking quickly away. The song ended, Evey not sure if she was relieved or disappointed when a fasted paced song began. The teachers and adult guests returned to their seats and the students began to gyrate to the music.

It only took a few minutes for the previous awkwardness between her and George to fade away, the couple soon jumping around in a way that could be loosely construed as dancing, shouting out the words to the songs at the top of their lungs. How could she have not wanted to come to this--she was having a wonderful time! As the thought ran through her mind, the song ended and a slower tune started. She and George stopped and stared at each other uneasily.

'Do you mind if we sit this one out?' she asked. 'My feet are starting to throb after all that jumping.'

George agreed quickly and they weaved their way through the students and off the dance floor, heading towards a bench against the wall. As they finally cleared the crowd, Evey saw a flash of bright pink out of the corner of her eye. She glanced to her left and did a double take. There was Dax--beautiful, funny, sweet, smart Dax--furiously snogging a pink robed Marietta Edgecombe. Evey stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the couple. Dax's hands were all over the fifth year Ravenclaw then they disappeared behind a large, white Christmas tree.

Evey felt a hollow feeling in her chest and she was finding it hard to draw breath. She barely heard George asking her what was wrong, startling the redhead when she turned and sprinted out of the room. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she ran all the way back up to the Gryffindor tower and collapsed on the couch in the abandoned common room, bursting into tears. She knew crying over a boy was silly but she had really fancied Dax and it had hurt her pride to see him kissing the girl for whom he'd rejected her. She now knew what heartache felt like.

Barely a minute later, she felt the cushions beside her sink, and a pair of hands pulled her up into a sitting position. She protested weakly, tears still streaming down her cheeks and opened her eyes. George was staring at her, concern in his chocolate coloured eyes.

'Evey, sweetheart, what's wrong?' he asked her softly, using a corner of his robes to wipe her tears and smudged makeup away.

She sniffed inelegantly and shook her head as she lowered her eyes, her tears still falling freely, 'I-its nothing. Just a stupid g-girl thing.'

'It's not stupid if its upsetting you this much. Please, Evelyn, talk to me.'

She looked up at him in surprise--he never called her Evelyn. Sure, maybe once or twice over the years in jest but never in seriousness. That, along with the concern on his face, made her answer.

'I saw Dax and Marietta…they were…they were kissing.'

George made a sympathetic face before pulling Evey into a firm hug. As she sobbed loudly, he rocked her gently and whispered comforting words as he stroked her hair softly. He had never seen her so upset in all her the time he'd known her and he hated that all her tears were for another boy. He wanted desperately to make her feel better, to let her know that even though the Frog didn't care about her, someone did.

'Evey, if he can't see you for the wonderful, amazing, beautiful person that you are then he doesn't deserve for you to waste even one tear on him.'

Evey looked up at him, her green eyes rimmed red and her cheeks wet. 'That's so sweet, George.'

'Well, it's true,' he said firmly, a determination in his voice. 'You deserve someone who will care about you and make you happy; someone who will appreciate how amazing you are.'

There was a look in George's eyes that Evey had never seen before. It was hot and passionate but…why would he be looking at her like that?

Falling into George's unplanned word trap, she responded, 'Like who?'

George's gaze held hers as the distance between their faces closed. When their noses were very nearly touching, he whispered one word that made her heart pound and shivers go down her spine.

'Me.'

And then he kissed her.

Am I evil? Yes. Do I enjoy it? Probably more than I should. Should you review? Absolutely :-)


	16. What Now?

Here it is, the long awaited reaction to George's kiss. I hope you enjoy it :-)

Huge thanks to all my reviewers and "followers" and so much love to remuslives23 for being the best editor ever and the goddess of fanfic!

Special dedication in this chapter to tanyanubin--I brought back a certain "character" just for her (mostly because she wouldn't stop bothering me about it...just kidding :-) )

A/N: if ya recognize it, its JKR's...if not, its mine.

Enjoy!

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Evey's eyes widened in shock. George was kissing her. GEORGE – her sweet, funny and totally brilliant platonic best friend was kissing her. And he was actually doing a damn good job of it.

Her eyes closed and lips parted as she instinctively kissed him back. She heard his breathing falter as her lips caressed his then his right hand was sliding up to tangle in her dark red curls as his left tightened at her waist.

It was a strange feeling, being kissed by George. Evey had never thought about doing that with him…well, except for that one time in third year, but that had been purely experimental. He cared about her – in a very non-platonic way she guessed as his tongue flicked at her lip. God, was this wrong? Could she ever care for him as more than a friend? His soft tongue traced the edge of her lip and she moaned softly into his mouth. If he kept kissing her like he was right now she was sure she could be convinced quite quickly.

Her hands rose, skimming over his arms before her fingers weaved through his shaggy ginger locks. George made a little noise in his throat before his left arm snaked around her waist, crushing her body to his. Their kiss deepened, Evey's tongue now meeting his eagerly. This was getting better every second, and Evey thought she could do this all night. Until…

'Bloody hell!' George screamed as he leapt off the couch, away from Evey.

Evey's eyes opened quickly to see her usually sweet cat, Dorothy, nearly mauling poor George. George was flailing about, trying to get the devil-cat off of him, screaming as her claws kept creating painful red scratches on his pale, freckled skin. Evey rushed to assist him, and was able to quickly remove her cat from George's back.

'Dorothy! Bad girl! What has gotten into you! Go find Crookshanks to play with,' she instructed the gray tabby as she gently tossed her onto the stairs leading to the girls' dormitory.

Dorothy landed gracefully on her small paws, turning back to hiss at George before trotting up the staircase to find her feline friend. Evey sighed and turned to George, who was wincing with every movement.

'Blimey, I'm sorry, George! I dunno what's wrong with her today,' she said as she crossed to him.

George tried to smile, but it came across as more of a grimace, 'No worries, Evey--I've gotten worse from Scabbers.'

'Ron's rat? What happened to him, anyway? I asked Ron at the beginning of the year but he just got really mad and said Scabbers was dead to him.'

George froze when he realized his mistake. Last summer, after weeks of hearing Ron mutter dark things about his suddenly missing rat, they were able to catch him with his guard down in a moment of anger and drag the truth out of him: Scabbers the rat was really Peter Pettigrew, a believed deceased illegal Animagus and murderer who had framed the truly innocent Sirius Black. At first they thought Ron had taken a too hard hit to the head from the Whomping Willow, but when they saw his panicked face and he begged them not to say anything to anyone, they realised he was telling the truth. Shocked, they agreed to stay silent. It was hard keeping it from Evey but she had been so frightened when Sirius Black was loose that they didn't like to mention his name around her - even if it was to tell her he was actually innocent.

George came up with a lie quickly.

'Yea, he, er, died over the summer. No surprise, really; bloody thing was nearly thirteen.'

He felt awful lying to Evey, especially after what they had just been doing. He just hoped this would never come back to haunt him.

Evey nodded, 'Right. Well, do you want me to heal your scratches? I know how painful they can be--I've been at the wrong end of Dorothy's wrath before. I'll never try to give her a bath again!'

The two laughed heartily at the cat's expense, George wincing again after a moment.

'Sit down,' Evey instructed as she gently guided George back to the couch.

She pulled out her wand, which was in a pocket of her dress robes, and quickly healed the wounds she saw, much to George's relief.

'Are there any others?' she asked as she healed the last visible one on his neck.

'No, that's the last of them,' George lied. He had some more scratches on his chest but healing them would require the removal of his shirt and that wasn't going to happen - not right now, anyway. He could fix them himself later.

Evey nodded and stowed her wand and the two fell into a very awkward silence. Their eyes avoided each other, drifting aimlessly around the room as Evey fidgeted in her seat and George sat with his arms crossed over his chest.

'So, what just happened?' Evey asked after a few minutes, unable to tolerate the silence any longer.

'Well, your cat nearly killed me,' George said smartly, smirking.

Evey rolled her eyes--leave it to George to make a joke when she was trying to be serious, 'I meant before that.'

The smirk fell from George's face. 'Oh.'

'Why'd you do that?'

George squirmed, 'Well, you were just so sad--I hate seeing you sad, you know that.'

Evey felt a sudden sadness overwhelm her as tears filled her eyes. 'Oh. Is that all?'

George realized what that sounded like and backpedaled as fast as he could. 'No, no of course not! I meant what I said. I-I care about you, Evey.'

Evey blushed along with George, trying to hide the wide grin that tried to escape. 'Oh. Er, since when?'

'About third year.'

Evey was surprised. Why hadn't she ever seen this? Why hadn't he ever told her? 'And you're telling me NOW?'

'Well I didn't realize it until the beginning of this year. Besides you don't just go up to your best mate and say "I fancy you, lets snog!"'

'No. I suppose not.'

There was another moment of that horribly uncomfortable silence, which was broken by George this time.

'So, now what?'

'Now what, what?'

'Well, I mean, I think that you enjoyed that as much as I did but…do we just forget it happened and go back to being mates?'

'Do you want to forget it?'

'Hell no!'

'Well, me neither. But, I mean, we've been best mates for five years…wouldn't it be weird?'

'That kiss didn't feel weird to me. In fact, it felt pretty bloody brilliant!'

'George!'

'What? I'm a wonderful kisser. OW! Stop hitting me, woman!'

Evey sat back down and glared at the boy across from her, 'Always a jokester.'

'It's in my nature. Though I must add that you aren't a bad kisser yourself.'

Evey blushed again and smiled a little self consciously. 'Thank you.'

George leaned close to Evey. She thought he would kiss her again, but he spoke instead.

'I don't want to forget what we did, Evey. I don't want to ignore it, either.'

'So what do we do?'

George smirked. 'Well, for starters…'

He pressed his lips against Evey's again, firmly but briefly – still long enough to make her head spin and her vision blur and she wished he'd just forget about the talking and do it again.

'Secondly,' George continued, 'I'd be honoured to accompany you to Hogsmeade during the next visit.'

Evey shook her head, 'George, I don't know. I mean, don't get me wrong, I enjoy spending time with you, and kissing you is amazing…' She ignored his smug smile and continued.

'But what would the others say? I mean, for Merlin's sake, we've spent five years telling half the school that you and Fred really aren't my pimps -- how would they react if they knew we were dating? They'd think we'd been lying all this time.'

George nodded thoughtfully. He was well aware of how much those rumours hurt Evey, and would be damned if he was going to be the one to cause her more pain. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head, and he smiled.

'What?' Evey said, noticing the change of expression.

'I just had a brilliant idea.'

'I don't know whether to be intrigued or terrified. The last time you said you had a "brilliant idea" you and Fred wound up in the hospital wings with white hair and beards.'

'I thought that ageing potion would work!'

'Hmm. Alright, let's hear it. What's your idea?'

George smiled, 'We keep it a secret.'

Evey stared at him blankly. 'Huh?'

'We keep it a secret,' George repeated. 'We keep doing these things--if you want to, of course--but we don't tell anyone.'

'Not even Fred?'

George paused; he really hated keeping secrets from his twin, but he had really enjoyed kissing Evey and desperately wanted a repeat performance. Several repeat performances.

Hesitantly, he nodded. 'Not even Fred.'

Evey considered the idea for a moment then smiled, 'Ok, sounds good to me.'

'Great,' George said with a smile. 'And maybe one day, when you're comfortable enough, I can snog you in public.'

'George!'

'What?'

Evey rolled her eyes, 'You're ridiculous sometimes.'

George simply smiled before leaning forward and kissing Evey gently. He ignored the niggling feeling in his stomach telling him that a secret 'relationship' was a bad idea, focusing instead on how soft Evey's lips were.

For the remainder of the evening, George and Evey spent their time alternating between talking and kissing (kissing seeming to become the favoured activity very quickly) until they heard voices outside the portrait hole. They hastily kissed each other good night before fleeing to their respective dorms.

Each were separately questioned by their roommates that night about why they had disappeared and where they had gone. Luckily, Evey and George had thought to come up with a story between their snogging sessions on the couch, telling their roommates that Evey had injured her ankle while dancing and decided to come back to the common room to hang out and play Exploding Snap (Evey winning seven games out of nine). Thankfully, their friends believed them, and both Evey and George fell asleep with secret smiles on their faces, thinking about what had really happened in the abandoned common room.

And there you have it! Hope you all enjoyed it! OH, special A/N--I know that it doesn't mention anywhere in the books that the twins knew the truth about Wormtail and Sirius but I _**had**_ to put it in, so I made it fit with cannon as much as possible. All will be explained in due time...probably in the next chapter if you review like good readers. If you do I'll give you cake :-)


	17. The Final Task and A Dingy Pub

(*peeks out from behind sturdy stone fortress*) Ok, _please_ don't kill me. I'll save my excuses for after the chapter content.

**A/N:**It's all JKR's except for what you don't recognize.

(*ducks back behind sturdy stone fortress*)

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Six months passed quickly, and suddenly it was the night of the third task. As Evey sat in the stands between Fred and George waiting for the Champions to emerge from the maze, she thought about the changes in her life since the Yule Ball. Since that first incredible kiss, George and Evey had been sneaking around the castle, stealing moments together whenever and wherever possible. Typically, they would find an abandoned row in the library or an empty classroom to fool around in, or sneak down to the Herbology greenhouses to snog. They would linger in the Common Room on weekend nights, outlasting everyone else just to be able to sink down onto the comfortable couch together for a little while. It was difficult to find these moments - but thankfully, help came in the form of an unwitting Angie, who began to keep Fred very occupied most nights with similar activities.

They hadn't gotten past heavy snogging so far, which was fine by Evey who was amused by George's frustration at their limited time together to take things further. Evey knew this was hard on him - not just the rushed snatched moments together, but keeping it a secret from his twin. Evey wished things could be different: She would watch couples walk through the corridors holding hands, see them passing mushy love notes in class when the teachers turned their backs, kissing goodnight in the common room, and wish for that kind of freedom. She found it harder and harder to not touch George or randomly snog him, reminding herself of how people would react. Sitting there between Fred and George, Evey found herself wishing she could simply reach out and take George's hand in her own. But she knew she couldn't; until certain students stopped calling her 'The Gryffindor Whore', it was necessary for them to hide what was going on between them.

'Bloody hell, what is taking them so long?' Fred asked no one in particular, throwing his arms up dramatically. 'Krum and the French bird have been out for thirty minutes!'

'Frederick, hush!' his mother admonished from a few seats down. 'Harry and Cedric will be out when they find the Cup. It'll be over when it's over.'

'But I'm BORED,' Fred whined, sliding out of his seat to the floor like a toddler, making George, Evey, and Angie laugh at his antics.

Mrs. Weasley simply rolled her eyes at her son and turned back to resume her conversation with Mrs. Diggory.

'They are taking a long time,' Evey commented as Fred returned to his seat. 'I hope everything is ok.'

'Of course it is, Evey,' George said with a large smile. 'It's just a little contest. Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?'

At that moment, there was a flash of light from below. All eyes focused on the field, and what was there made everyone scream. Young Harry Potter was lying on the ground, still as a statue, grasping the Triwizard Cup in one hand his other hand wrapped around the wrist of Cedric Diggory. Both boys remained still on the ground as teachers and students rushed from the bleachers, but as the moments passed and neither moved, Evey looked more closely and with a shock realised that although Harry's chest was rising and falling with each breath, Cedric's was not.

'Evey, don't look,' George said quietly, realising what had happened at the same instant. He wrapped his arms around her and turned her away from the sight. 'I don't want you to see this.'

The shouts from below confirmed her suspicions: Cedric Diggory was dead.

Not caring who saw her in his arms, Evey clung to George and sobbed into his shirt as Mrs. Diggory's chilling screams of grief echoed through the stadium. George tried vainly to soothe the girl in his arms, choking back his own hot tears. His eyes met Fred's, who was holding a crying Angelina close, and after a moment of silent conversation, the two nodded in agreement to each other. They rose, still holding their respective girlfriends and muttering words of comfort into their ears. George quickly explained to their shocked father that they were taking the girls back to the Tower. Arthur Weasley nodded as he tried to comfort his hysterical wife and the twins quickly left the stadium.

The twins were able to steer the still-crying girls back to Gryffindor Tower, comforting them the entire way. Without a second thought about appropriateness, Fred and George led the girls up to their dorm. Fred immediately disappeared behind the curtains of his bed with Angie. Under any other circumstance, George would take the mickey out of him for it, but today he understood.

'Come on, Evey,' George said quietly, gently guiding her into his four-poster.

Tears still streaming down her face, Evey shook her head and backed away until her back hit a wall--no one could see, no one could know.

'Now isn't the time to worry about that, love,' George said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her tight against his body. 'Right now, I just want to hold you. The rest of the world can fuck off, yeah?'

Evey smiled gratefully through her tears and agreed, climbing through the curtains and onto the bed. George held her as she sobbed, her body shaking. It pained him to see her so upset. As he thought about the events of the last hour, he let a few tears of his own fall--he knew Cedric, had played against him, partied with him a few times. He was a great guy; always laughing, very smart. And now he was gone, just like that. It could happen to anyone--to him, to Fred, to Evey. It was terrifying to think that he could lose someone he loved so quickly, so easily and he held Evey tighter against his body, burying his face in her hair as Mrs. Diggory's screams replayed in his head. Soon enough, Evey cried herself to sleep in the comforting circle of his arms and George finally let himself fall into an uneasy slumber.

In the middle of the night, after everyone had cried themselves to sleep, Evey awoke with a gasp. She had a dream--no, a nightmare, where she was standing on the Quidditch pitch and suddenly, the twins appeared dead at her feet. As the gruesome dream replayed in her head, she began to sob again. She curled up in a ball on the bed against George, who woke with the movement.

'Evey? Evey, what is it? What's wrong?' he whispered as he gathered the girl in his arms.

Evey merely shook her head and clung to him, until her sobs subsided.

'Better?' George asked softly, waiting for Evey to nod before continuing. 'Want to tell me what's wrong?'

Evey took a few deep breaths, 'I had…a…nightmare.'

'What about?'

Evey's eyes filled with tears as she spoke, 'You…a-and Fred…were…were…dead!'

She began to cry again and George did his best to calm her. He held her small body close to his, and rubbed her back as he whispered words of comfort and reassurance to her.

'Evey, Fred and I are fine…he's asleep in the next bed, with Angie.'

Evey snickered through her tears, 'If he's with Angie I seriously doubt he's asleep.'

The two laughed softly, but quieted when they heard Fred snore loudly from his bunk.

'George,' Evey began faintly, 'what happened tonight? Is Cedric…is he really…?'

George took a deep breath and held Evey a little tighter as he responded quietly.

'Yes. I heard Lee talking to Kenny. The details are kind of sketchy right now, but apparently people are saying it was You-Know-You.'

Evey gasped and began to tremble. She may not have been raised in the magical world, but she knew of the havoc You-Know-Who had wrecked upon England fourteen years ago, not to mention the events of just the previous summer.

'Evey, it's ok,' George said as he felt her shaking. 'I'm sure it's just a rumour. Besides, during the last war my uncles were part of a secret society that fought You-Know-You; Dumbledore ran it. I'm sure if there was any truth in this rumor, Dumbledore would do something about it.'

Evey took several deep breaths and nodded, 'Alright. I'm sure you're right. I mean, Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard on the planet.'

'Exactly! See, nothing to worry about!' George said with a big, goofy smile as he looked down at her.

Evey couldn't help but smile as well. That was something she really liked about George--he could always make her smile, no matter how angry or upset she was.

'There's that smile I like to see,' he said before leaning down and gently kissing Evey's neck in a way he knew drove her crazy.

The light touch of his mouth elicited a visceral response from Evey and within seconds, her lips were pressed against George's. Her fingers wound into his hair as they shifted on hi s bed and George was soon hovering over Evey. His left hand tangled in her deep red curls and his right gripped her hip tight. They pressed their bodies together, seeking each other's warmth and solidity for comfort as the kiss deepened but before long, the need to breath became too great and they pulled apart.

'You're evil when you want to be, you know that?' Evey huffed as she gasped for air.

'Uh huh,' George said with a self-satisfied smirk.

Evey rolled her eyes. 'Stop distracting me; there are bigger things going on right now. How's Harry--does anyone know?'

George thought for a moment as he adjusted his position, leaning his head on his left hand as he answered, 'Well, I didn't hear Kenny or Lee say anything other than he's in the hospital wing.'

'You don't think he's…dead, do you?' Evey asked as she leaned up on her elbows, her green eyes wide with worry over her House-mate.

'No,' George said calmly, seeing Evey's distress. 'We definitely would've heard about it if he was. He looked pretty banged up when we were leaving the stadium, but he didn't seem to be badly hurt.'

'He's must be so upset. Can we go visit him?'

'Sure. We'll go first thing in the morning--'

'No, I mean right now.'

'What?! Are you mad? It's nearly one in the morning--can you imagine if we get caught how much trouble we would be in?! Whoa, did I just say that? Give me a minute, I'll go wake Fred. Shall I wake Angie, too?'

'No, let her sleep; trust me, you haven't seen the girl when you interrupt her sleep--it's not pretty.'

George nodded and made to get out of bed then hesitated. Evey gave him a confused look then smiled when George gave her a brief, sweet kiss.

'Don't worry, Evey. Harry's fine, you'll see,' George said with a smile when he pulled away, and in the next second he was out of the bed.

Not five minutes later, Fred, George, and Evey were creeping through the dark halls of Hogwarts. After casting Disillusionment charms on each other (and making sure Angie was sound asleep), they slowly began making their way down to the third floor. After a few close calls with some Prefects on the fifth floor and Peeves on the fourth floor, they finally reached the hospital wing.

The door opened soundlessly and Evey only had to peek inside to see Harry lying on a cot on the other end of the Wing. He was asleep--probably due to a potion from Pomfrey--but his breathing seemed regular and he didn't look to be in pain. But she knew, without even talking to him, that when he woke up, his life would never be the same. Without a word, she closed the door then took each twin by the hand. They snuck back up to Gryffindor Tower where she was finally able to fall into a dreamless sleep.

The last week of the year was very depressing for everyone. The loss of Cedric was felt by every student and faculty member, even the visitors from the other schools. The day after it happened, Dumbledore addressed the school and asked them to please let Harry recover in peace and not to badger him while he recovered. That made the rumours that were already going around even worse. Now, people were saying Harry had not only killed Cedric himself, but it had drained him so much that he was on his death bed.

That night, Harry came back from the Hospital Wing to a mixed reception. Some of the students in the common room fled when he walked in; some people ignored him completely. Evey was one of the few that greeted him warmly and asked how he was feeling. It was obvious to her and anyone else who was paying attention how hard this all was on the fourteen year old; the poor boy looked like he was about to either cry or scream, or both.

At the End of Term Feast, Dumbledore spoke to the entire school about Cedric Diggory, You-Know-You, and what really happened that final night of the tournament. A lot of people, Evey included, were crying by the end; the brutal honesty hard, but refreshing to hear.

It wasn't until the next day, halfway through the train ride back to London, that Evey realized something very important.

'Bloody hell!'

'What?' Angie asked from her lounging position, her head resting in Fred's lap and her knees bent.

'I have no idea where I'm going this summer,' Evey said miserably.

'What do you mean?' Fred asked.

'Well, there's no way I'm going back to the States,' she said as she shared a significant look with Angie, who was the only other person in the country who knew what her creepy cousin Robbie had done to her a year previous. 'And I'm not speaking to my parents. Besides, I doubt they'll take me in with the way I left them last summer. I guess I could live at the Leaky Cauldron…I could work for Tom in the pub, maybe…'

'You bloody well will NOT,' George exclaimed loudly as he leapt to his feet, startling the three others in the compartment.

'Calm down, mate,' Fred said calmly, trying to soothe his obviously outraged brother. 'She's just thinking out loud.'

George ignored Fred and turned to Evey who was sitting in the seat beside him, 'You're staying at the Burrow with us.'

'George, I can't impose--'

'I don't want to hear it! You're NOT staying at a dingy pub for two and half months when there's plenty of room at the Burrow and my mum would be more than happy to have you. NO, not another word--you know you have an open invitation, so I won't take no for an answer.'

Evey looked hopelessly at Fred and Angie, who simply shrugged.

'Sorry, Evey,' Fred began. 'But my handsome, intelligent brother makes an excellent point; you are more than welcome at the Burrow any time and mum loves you more than she loves us.'

'Evey just say yes to them so they can stop being so annoying,' Angie begged.

Evey laughed and looked up at George who had subtly positioned himself so his back was completely towards Fred and Angie. When he caught Evey's eye, the anger on his face melted to desperation and fear as he mouthed one word: please. It nearly broke Evey's heart and she took a deep breath before answering.

'Alright, alright, if it'll get you off my back I'll go to the Burrow,' she answered, hoping she sounded casual and not on the verge of tears.

The relief on George's face was immediately visible as a big grin broke out. Seconds later, he leapt on top of Evey, shortly followed by Fred.

'Get off me you oafs! Are you trying to kill me?!' Evey shouted as Angie laughed from her seat.

The twins moved back to their seats and the four students soon occupied themselves; Fred with snogging Angie (to Evey and George's annoyance and envy) and George with playing Exploding Snap with Evey.

'Hey,' George whispered halfway through their third game, glancing as his brother and Angie to make sure they were still…busy.

'Yes?' Evey whispered back.

'Thanks for agreeing before. I just…I didn't want to see you in a place like the Cauldron all summer. Its awful and…I'd miss you,' George ended, looking down as his cheeks and ears turned as red as his hair.

Evey smiled and blushed, 'It was no problem, George. I would've missed you too.'

George looked back up at her and their eyes met. He looked over at Fred and Angie, making sure they were still quite occupied, then checked that there was no one in the hall before leaning over and quickly pecking her on the lips. They both smiled widely…then the moment was ruined when the deck of cards between them exploded and they were covered in ashes and smoke.

* * *

Ok, I know its been a long time...like, a REALLY long time, but I have a really good reason--several in fact. First, shortly after I posted the last chapter, I broke up with my boyfriend/fiance of two years so I wasn't really in the mood for writing romance. Secondly, I started back at nursing school for my final year and I'm in my psych/intensive care rotation which is insanely difficult so I've had like no time to write. Third, serious case of writers block. Then the other day I suddenly had the urge (and the time) to write and I got this out in under an hour and I really hope you liked it and you aren't mad for having to wait for so long and I'm sorry and comments are always welcome and I love you all :-) I promise you all won't have to wait so long for the next chapter!


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